


Still Jack and Daniel Series 2 - No Yellow Brick Road 3 - Frozen

by Annejackdanny



Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 2 - No Yellow Brick Road/Ghosts of the Past [1]
Category: SG-1 - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Kidfic, M/M, Slash, h/c
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-03
Updated: 2012-09-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 11:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 45,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annejackdanny/pseuds/Annejackdanny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Home from Egypt, Jack and LD have to tackle the next challenge</p><p>Takes place in Season 6 and deals with this universes's take on "Frozen"<br/>I used the transcript of the episode for bits of this and information from<br/>http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Transcripts#Episode_Transcripts</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Frozen I

 

**Still Jack and Daniel**

–

**No Yellow Brick Road**

**III**

**Frozen**

**I**

"Are you angry with me, Daniel?"

"Um, no, why would I be angry?"

"Maybe you're hurt?"

"Yes. But it's not your fault."

"Are you sure?"

Daniel let out a deep sigh and swallowed the lump blocking his throat. "Yes. I'm sure."

"But I stole your life. I'm going to do your work. Carry your name. Maybe, we will be working together. I am you now."

The words were drumming in his ears. Daniel took a deep breath. "It wasn't your fault. They made you work at the mountain," he said calmly while his heart thumped in his chest like a jackhammer. "You've asked to be transferred to  Area 51 or the Alpha  S ite as soon as everything is straightened out. And besides,  if you go to the Alpha Site  you'll be off world and we won't have to spend much time together. It's okay. It's not an issue." 

His opposite bent forward and looked him straight in the eyes. "But what if they are going to deny the request? They already denied my request to be transferred to Area 51. And if I have to stay at the mountain... I might become Jack's best buddy again, Daniel." 

He gripped the arms of his chair more tightly. There was nothing threatening here. It was just words. They didn't mean anything. They didn't have to bother him. Yet, they got to him at all the same. He felt his throat getting tight. "No, you won't. You won't push yourself between us. You said you'd stay back. I know you'll stick to that," he heard himself say flatly.

"But sometimes things change. People change. Maybe I can't stay on my own forever. I might turn to the people who are, after all, my friends, too. Jack, Sam, Teal'c and I could do all the things together you can't do anymore. Like... going out, having a beer."

"Wine. You don't like beer," Daniel said.

"Whatever. Are you getting my point?"

"Yes. But even if it happens. It will only be for two years. In two years I'll be an adult again."

"And then what? Who are you going to be then?"

Daniel blinked slowly. He licked his lips and fought anxie ty . "I..." He closed his eyes just for a split second. "Stop. Please, " he whispered after a moment of silence. 

Svenson got up from the rattan chair she was sitting on. She brushed a strand of light blond hair behind her ear. "Do you want another cup of tea, Daniel?"

"No, thanks," he said politely as his heartbeat settled back to normal.

He had never really liked the Swedish herbal tea she was drinking. But she never offered him coffee and sometimes he took the tea just so she didn't think he was rude. 

She smiled and went over to the small table next to the window where Jack was stood and gazed out on the street, back rigid, shoulders tensed. Once she had poured herself a cup of tea, she returned and sat down again. Her eyes searched his and he stopped himself from ducking his head to avoid the contact.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said when he was sure his voice wouldn't sound like one of Flyboy's squeaky rubber toys.

"There's no need. Actually I didn't expect us to go this far into it at this point," the blond psychologist answered. 

Daniel tried a smile, but it was more like a grimace. 

"How was it for you?" she asked after a moment.

"The role play? Oh, it wasn't as weird as I thought." 

"Good. So you don't mind if we try this again, next time?"

"You're tackling all my sore spots, pushing all my buttons." . 

Her face softened for a moment as she watched him over the rim of her cup. "Yes. This is what all this is about. When you and Jack first told me about your adult self, you asked me to really work it out with you.  You asked me to push it, to push you.  We can put this aside for a while and talk about something else, if you feel it's going too fast for you."

"No. No, I think I have to go through this or it'll all build up and up until..." Daniel sighed. “I need to deal with this, I need to face this. He won't go away.”

"I agree."

When she looked at him expectantly, he squirmed a little in his seat. What did she want him to say? "So, let's... continue it this way," he replied, realizing it came out like a question.

"Why do you think, dealing with this the hard way is better than taking it slow?"

"Because I have to," Daniel said through gritted teeth.

"Why?"

He didn't answer. He sat there, staring at his hands folded in his lap. There was a band aid on his left index finger. He’d gotten scratched when he played with Flyboy in the yard the other day. It happened sometimes when they were really rough. Jack said it was impossible to know where Daniel ended and the dog began when they were entangled into a ball of legs, tail and arms.

"I don't know," he said quietly.

He looked over at Jack who had turned around and was leaning against the window frame, his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets. Daniel wasn't sure if it was only a play of light by the late afternoon sun. But there were deep lines in the face of his older friend. 

Daniel cringed. 

It was his fault. He had given Jack nothing but hard times over the last year. Only recently things had started to really improve. He had started to feel better, more comfortable in his own skin. Now things were twisted around again. 

Only this time he had vowed not to throw his anger at Jack.

That meant he had to cooperate more in his work with Doctor Svenson. Really work with her, not just play at it. He wasn't sure if she knew he had been manipulating her over the last months. Not always and not about everything. But he had only been ready to deal with things on his own terms. Whenever she started to press a little, he took a step back or tried to guide her in other directions. 

Jack had known. 

Daniel was sure, Svenson had known, too. She was a psychologist after all. 

Now he needed to focus and go with the program. He wanted to learn to live with this new twist. He was almost desperate to go forward instead of backwards. He didn't want to end up at square one again. 

It was only for two more years. Once it was over and he'd be allowed to use the statue none of this mattered anymore. He wouldn't remember. He'd start all over again. Then there were other issues to fight. But he would deal with those then. Not now. Now he needed to cope with the current situation. 

He could do it.

For Jack.

And for his own sanity.

He wouldn't spend another two years dwelling and feeling miserable.

So he had agreed to the role play. And he had pressed Svenson to work this out with him. 

He needed to be okay with this. Needed to be able to live with it.

Doctor Svenson waited a few moments more. When he didn't say anything else, she asked, "How do you feel, Daniel?"

He ducked his head. "You want me to lose it, right? You want me to scream and yell and admit I'm... mad."

"Are you?"

"It's what everyone thinks. That I should be mad. Everyone seems to wait for me to throw a tantrum or have a breakdown," Daniel said slowly, glancing at Jack again. “But I won't. Not anymore.”

"What do you feel when you think about him?" Svenson asked, curious.

Daniel started to run through all combinations of answers he could come up with so she would be satisfied and let him go for today. Could he say he was sorry for Jackson? Because he was. Part of him was. He had left everything behind. But if he said he was sorry, she would ask why and that would lead to more questions.

With a sigh he suddenly realized he was trying to get out of this meeting the way he used to. By giving her something to work with, but not enough so he would really have to open up to her. And that was exactly what he didn't want to do anymore, right? He still wasn't comfortable about the idea to reveal his true feelings and thoughts to her all the time. Yet, he had to find the courage to try on some levels. 

"I'm not sure," he admitted reluctantly. 

"Let me try this differently. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Doctor Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel blinked.

Svenson nodded encouragingly. "Don't think about it. Just say it."

"He's... almost invisible. But he's also... nice," he whispered.

And that was the scary truth.

"You like him?" Svenson asked, not losing track of the conversation for a heartbeat.

"No. Yes. I don't know. He stays back, he never comes into my office unless it's strictly work related. Or when he wants to take Flyboy for a walk – which he only does when Jack is off world," Daniel mumbled. 

The impressive black dog raised his head upon hearing his name. He had been lying at Daniel's feet pretending to doze. He looked over to where Jack stood as if to make sure both his humans were there. Then he yawned and placed his head back between his legs. 

"Do you like him, Colonel O'Neill?" Svenson asked out of the blue, her neutral tone of voice never changing.

"No," Jack snapped without any hesitation. When both Daniel and Svenson turned to look at him, he sent a desperate look towards the ceiling and sighed. "Oh, here we go... we don't spent time together, okay? I don't know. I've never really talked to him since... we got back. Neither has Daniel."

"That's true," Daniel confirmed.

And it was.

Jackson didn't exactly offer his company. 

And Daniel was glad about it. 

He could only comprehend this whole situation with the intellectual part of his mind. He could analyze it with his rational... with the "voice" he'd once called the "reasonable voice" of his adult side. Jackson was here. And there was nothing he could do about it. So he had to get along with it. Jackson was in no way pushing himself into their lives. He avoided being around in the archaeological department or anywhere else Daniel would be during the day. 

But whatever his "reasonable voice" was trying to tell him, he couldn't get rid of his feelings. And the feelings were dark and heavy. Because the same voice that was part of his adult mind was whispering to him about things he wouldn't even be aware of if he was a real child... 

The knowledge made all the difference. To know what Jack had felt for him before the downsizing. What they had been. His memories were whispering to him; he kept wondering how it was for Jack to see this man... if Jack was thinking about him... if Jackson had been back together with O'Neill after he'd gotten big again in his own time line... and other things, too. What was going to happen in two years when there'd be two of them... 

Daniel balled his hands into fists and focused on staying calm.

He had visited the gym more often over the last couple of weeks. Worked harder with Teal'c than he had before. Tri ed to compensate for the anxiety by working it out of his system.

Jack's hand on his shoulder brought him back to attention of his surroundings. "We should go. It's late."

Daniel nodded, glad for the rescue.

Doctor Svenson stood and nodded  as well . "I agree, I think it's enough for today. I want you to consider my suggestion about the mood diary again, Daniel."

"I'm writing a journal already. I always have," he objected. Though that wasn't exactly true. He hadn't written in his personal journal for quite some time. 

"Yes. But a mood diary focuses on your feelings and moods. You could write anything into it; how you feel, when you are angry or why you are angry. No matter how ridiculous the reason is in your own eyes. Or when you are happy about something. That way you could keep track on how your good mood will improve over the bad mood. You might get something out of it. You don't have to share it. It is only for you."

"I write down my thoughts into my journal," he said, frowning. Work related thoughts at least.

Well, he had written some personal stuff in the beginning of his new childhood... but then stopped.

"I know that. But you said your journal is work related. I would like you to write a diary that focuses on you and your feelings only. Fears, anger, happiness, sadness - and nightmares. Something that's separated from everything else. Something that helps you to reflect."

Daniel opened his mouth to tell her he wasn't stupid. She was explaining it again for the third time in the last two weeks. He got the picture. He just didn't want to do it. Swallowing the rude comment he said politely, but firm, "I'd like to go now."

Svenson didn't even blink. She just smiled again and shook his hand. "If the weather is nice we could meet somewhere outside next week again. Take a walk in the woods. The fall brings the most incredible colors to the leaves. I love Indian Summer," she offered with a smile.

"Okay. How 'bout Tuesday?" Daniel had grown to like meeting outdoors. It was better than her office. They had met at the SGC a couple of times, too, in his own office. But meeting outdoors was better. It made the whole therapy meeting more relaxed. It made him feel less like a headcase. 

Svenson confirmed their next appointment for Tuesday before they said their goodbyes and left.

The drive across Colorado Springs was very quiet except of Jack's bitching at several other drivers. From time to time Flyboy gave a low short bark or snuff as if agreeing to Jack's muttering. Daniel had to smile about that. Somehow they were both a little alike, Jack and Flyboy. They were both like big kids sometimes with lots of antics and very playful. At the same time they were both watching him like hawks. Sometimes the dog was worse than Jack in guarding him. But that was okay.

In fact, if there was one real good thing about the new situation, it was having Flyboy. Even though he caused additional labor for Jack, which made Daniel feel bad occasionally. Flyboy was an intelligent animal, but he didn't know a leash and had a few other issues. He had to get used to a lot of things like staying alone in the truck or in the house and not being able to come and go when he wanted. But Jack didn't seem to mind any of it. He was rolling his eyes and complaining. But Daniel knew as long as Jack nagged and huffed, while he was goofing around with the big guy all the time, it was just a smoke screen. 

Flyboy didn't like to be alone for long. When they went to work, they took him with them and he stayed with Daniel. That Hammond had made this possible was a little miracle. Doctor Svenson had put in a word here. Daniel knew how happy she was that he had gotten the dog. She had pointed out how good Flyboy was for Daniel - on all levels - and she had been right.

The best thing about being allowed to have Flyboy on base was that Daniel never felt alone anymore when Jack was off world. Knowing the dog was there, sleeping at his feet in the bed helped a lot. He had never told Jack, but he hated being alone on base at nights. He’d never gotten over that. Now that he had company it was almost a piece of cake.

When Jack wasn't off world, they would take two long walks in the  woods around the base together every day. When he was away, Jackson came over and took the dog for his walks. He was allowed to leave the mountain now, but was still living there since they hadn't granted his request to work at Area 51. Instead the archaeologist would leave Earth in a couple of weeks and help set ting up archaeological and research departments at the Alpha Site. Jackson had requested to remain on the Alpha Site, but had not gotten permission to do so - yet. 

Sometimes Daniel wondered how his future self felt about all this. But he never dared to ask. All Daniel knew was that Jackson really didn't want to be involved in the missions regarding SG-1. He worked for several other teams, doing research and translations, but never for SG-1. 

Daniel sighed. He really didn't want to think about Jackson. He also didn't want to think about the fact that Doctor Daniel Jackson had been declared as being back from the dead one more time. They had to give him an ID and since Jackson was no unknown face at the mountain, it had been a simple choice. And Daniel had no say in this. Neither had Jackson. 

Shortly after they had returned from Egypt, a guy from Washington DC showed up for a briefing. He had hedged and squirmed around the questions, both Daniel and Jackson wanted answered. How was it going to work? Who would be who? And in the end Mr. Gaunt had said that, at the moment, it was more urgent to find a place and life for the "current adult Doctor Jackson" than to think of what to do with the "current young Doctor Jackson" in two years. Because the "current adult Daniel" was worth much more than the little one. 

And it made horrible sense. 

Jackson could work longer, didn't need breaks or someone to take care of him. They could put him wherever they wanted him. If Jackson was needed for diplomacy issues in Russia, he could go. If they wanted him to do research or translations on dangerous alien technology they could just tell him to do it without thinking about the risks like they had to with a child – even if it was just bodywise. 

Jackson could work through the nights and travel alone, without drawing any attention to himself. Jackson was independent. Daniel wasn't. Oh, and if the NID kidnapped Jackson, everyone was confident he wouldn't tell them anything. Because Jackson was strong. And Daniel was weak. Bottom line was; the little Daniel needed protection and a babysitter while Jackson was able to take care of himself. 

He remembered how mad everyone had been. Hammond was still fuming because all of this had been decided over his head. Jackson had protested vehemently. He had even offered to leave Earth and live on another planet just so he could stay out of the way. Sam almost had a stroke over the endless possibilities about altering the time line by Jackson staying and working at the mountain. Teal'c had asked permission to send the man from Washington into a black hole. Fraiser had griped about the psychological effects on both Daniels.

In the end, the man from the government had told them point-blank that the decision had been made and that Jackson would be informed whether he could stay at the Alpha Site or not. 

Sam had tried again to make her point about the time line. But Mr. Gaunt had sounded like a parrot, repeating over and over that....

  
  


_... "The decision has already been made, Gentlemen - Ladies."_

_"The last word about this hasn't been spoken yet," Hammond fired back, an unusual fury in his voice._

_"Yes it has. This comes from the president himself. You may call him, General. But you won't change anything. Doctor Jackson is needed on the program. And he is most useful here at the SGC. There is no way around it."_

_At that point, Sam bolted from her seat and placed both her palms firmly on the table. "I have to stress this! No one knows exactly what effect Doctor Jackson's existence in this time line might have! There are so many possibilities of what could go wrong. I don't even know where to start!"_

_"He won't go off world. He will work on Earth and at the SGC. We will think about letting him stay at the Alpha Site. So he isn't interacting in any big event concerning important missions. Isn't that enough for you, Major," Gaunt said annoyed._

_"No! I mean..." She slumped back in her seat and closed her eyes for a moment as if to hold herself back from strangling the man. "We have no idea WHAT could be leading into something "big". It might be a translation someone else was supposed to work on. Anything. Don't you get it? Everything Doctor Jackson does here might alter the time line!"_

_Gaunt shuffled through his papers and cleared his throat before he answered, "Our physicists did warn us about this, Major. However, we can't change the fact that he is here now, can we? And Doctor MacKay..."_

_"Oh god," Sam muttered._

_Jack snorted._

_Even Daniel felt a smile creep into his face at Sam's grimace. They all knew about her "relationship" with MacKay. Even though neither Jack nor Daniel had been on base when the two of them had collided, they'd heard about it. And they had both suffered through Sam's endless complaining about the guy._

_"Doctor MacKay pointed out there is a high possibility that Doctor Jackson being here won't alter the time line at all. After all we know about his arrival here, it might even be safe to send him off world with one of the SG teams. Doctor Jackson here didn't give us much information, which is very... unfortunate. But, we came to the conclusion he wouldn't be here if it meant he could jeopardize the safety of the universe as it exists now. Isn't that so, Doctor Jackson?"_

_Everyone turned to stare at Jackson, who ducked his head in a way Daniel knew he did on occasions. After a brief moment he met their eyes with a stubborn defiant look. It was a look Daniel used on people as well. "I'm no rocket scientist."_

_"Hey. Stop stealing my lines," Jack muttered._

_"I don't know the physics about the form of time travel we used. I also have orders not to pass information on to you about it," Jackson said, ignoring Jack._

_"How... ?" Sam started._

_"Did you ever hear of the string theory?" Gaunt asked, arrogant satisfaction all over his face._

_Sam nodded and answered, "Why, yes. But, it's all theoretical. The experiences we have with time travel are..."_

_"String theory?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing._

_"If you're not familiar with that theory, Colonel, I suggest you look it up or ask the major to enlighten you. It is not the subject of this meeting. I'm merely here to inform you about the facts, not to discuss physics. Doctor Jackson is the most resourceful and most efficient scientist on this program. We can't waste his capabilities," Gaunt explained briskly, dismissing Sam with a thin smile._

“ _He'd be as efficient and needed at the Alpha Site,” Sam said._

“ _And how does Doctor Jackson being at the Alpha Site not interfere with the time line?” Mr. Gaunt wondered cynically._

“ _It will interfere with it as well. But probably not as much.“_

“ _Doctor Jackson is needed here,” Mr. Gaunt said bluntly._

_"Daniel is here," Jackson said quietly._

“ _Oh, yeah.” Jack was sitting next to Daniel. He hadn't said much during the whole hour they had been sitting at the table. But he had been staring at Gaunt for most of the briefing. If looks could have killed, Gaunt would've dropped dead long ago._

_"Daniel is a child," Gaunt explained mildly._

_"He has everything in his brain I have," Jackson answered. "He works here and his abilities are still high. You don't need me here."_

_"I'm not discussing this any further," Gaunt said brutally. “I informed you about everything you needed to know.”_

_With that the man left._

_Just like that._

_Leaving them all sitting there dumbfounded, gaping._

_Then, as if a button had been pressed, General Hammond bolted from his seat, promising them he'd contact the president and whoever else would listen to him, that in no uncertain terms was he happy with the solution._

_Jackson left the room quietly._

_Sam asked for permission to run after him or call him back, but Jack shook his head and told her to let him go._

_Her eyes shot lightning bolts as she stood there, hands on hips, glaring at them. "Sir! I can't believe this is happening! Why is he holding back information from us? If he can live here and work here without affecting the time line, why does he make such a... a... secret out of it? I_ _know that he_ _can't share his knowledge about the future events regarding Anubis and Daniel’s role in it, yet. But the time travel has already taken place. He could tell us how it worked! I'm talking physics here. It's a big deal!"_

_Hammond gave her a firm nod. "I want you to talk to him and find out what you can. We can't force him to tell us anything. We have no evidence he is holding back anything without having a good reason for it. But, I understand your concern and I want you to question him again and see if he is willing to give you something to work with. Colonel, are you with me on this?"_

_Jack put his pen down and for a moment Daniel thought he would object of Sam's wish to press Jackson for more information. But finally he said, "Yes, sir. Knowing him... or his... past self... I think he has only our best interest in mind and therefore I wouldn't question his integrity. But knowing a little more about his arrival here and the story behind it wouldn't hurt."_

_"Good. I’ll leave it to you, to decide who will try to convince Doctor Jackson to share his knowledge with us. In the meantime, I'm going to make some phone calls." Hammond dismissed them..._

  
  


...And since then nothing had happened. Jackson was still on base, Hammond  had n't accomplish ed anything with his phone calls. SG-1 had been on two missions and Daniel avoided Jackson as much as he could, which wasn't really difficult.. 

The decision had been made and that was it. And Sam wasn't very successful in getting Jackson to talk. "He is like a ghost. To actually meet him and make him stay for a minute is almost impossible. When he sees me, he turns and leaves," she sighed. 

Jack didn't offer to help.

He didn't discourage Sam in trying to pin Jackson down and answer her questions. But he didn't exactly encourage her either. Daniel knew she was angry at Jack for not stepping up to the plate and help her talk to him.

**II**

While they made their way through the checkpoints to access the deeper parts of Cheyenne Mountain Complex Jack thought about the meeting with Svenson. Daniel really seemed to push it this time. He had agreed to more of Svenson's suggestions over the last few meetings than he had the whole time before Egypt. 

Daniel had been right though with what he had told Svenson earlier.

Jack had been waiting for the inevitable outburst since they had returned home three weeks ago. He had watched Daniel, had walked on eggshells around him for a while. But all Daniel did was work out in the gym and get more serious about his therapy. They hadn't really talked about the whole mess. But, Daniel seemed to be doing okay and not pretending - at least most of the time. 

Jack could prod him about his feelings, but he didn't. It was like a don't ask, don't tell situation in another context. 

They went into the locker room to get changed into their blue fatigues. 

"You okay, Danny?" Jack watched him stuff his clothes into his locker.

"Yes. Not really great, but I'm working on it," Daniel said absently. He tried to reach the upper part of his locker to put his shirt in. He balled it up in one hand and threw it upwards in order to hit the shelf. But he kept missing and the shirt fell to the floor.

Jack looked over to where the step stool Daniel was supposed to use stood. He had grown some over the last year, but he was still small. Even for an eight year old. Janet assured them there was no need to worry though, since Daniel was growing fast enough. 

"She was a little tough on you today."

"That's okay, really." Daniel threw the shirt again. Jack caught it and placed it into the shelf after he had untangled and folded it.

"I was going to  d o this myself," the kid muttered.

"I’m supposed to meet Carter in her lab in about five minutes and you have to get to your office sometime today, so I thought I’d give you a hand."

Daniel worked on the buttons of his blue shirt. "And I could have used the step stool. I know. Sorry."

"Didn't say anything," Jack said mock innocently.

"You wanted to."

"No, I didn't."

"Did." Daniel grinned and combed his fingers through his hair.

Jack reached into the kid’s locker and handed him the brush. "Didn't. I could show you a few pitches to help you throw your shirt in," he offered with a low chuckle and slammed his own locker shut before he walked over to the bench and sat to tie his boots. He didn't really expect an answer to this. He knew Daniel wasn't big into sports and any attempt to lure him into some ballgame was useless. 

"No! Not baseball," Daniel snapped. But when he had closed his own locker and came over to join Jack on the bench, he added more softly, "Um, maybe basketball. We could try that some time... maybe."

O'Neill stopped tying his laces and gave the guy next to him a long look. "We could?"

Daniel blushed and ducked to do his own shoes. "Yes. I mean, why not? There's a basket hanging over your garage door. And you have a ball, right?"

"Well, yeah.”

Daniel smiled uncertainly. "I’ll... think about it, okay?"

"Okay. Are we good to go?"

"Yeah."

They parted in the elevator. Daniel and his dog headed to his office and Jack left on the level with the physic labs. A bad gut feeling told him he already knew what she wanted to discuss. She'd try to nail him and make him talk to Jackson about his time traveling. Rubbing a weary hand through his already tousled gray hair, Jack let out a low grunt of annoyance. He wasn't the rocket scientist and he wouldn't know what information Carter was searching for.

Oh, yeah, right.

Now he was starting to do the dumb act on himself. 

Well, he didn't know  what exactly she  wanted Jackson  to tell her . But he had a pretty good idea of the questions she had. He just didn't want to do it. Period. The bad thing was if she stressed it any further he might  _have_ to do it. 

When he entered, his 2IC was sitting in front of her computer, talking to someone over a video link. Jack saw a dark haired woman, dressed in a warm fleece jacket. He entered and gave Carter a wave which she acknowledged with a nod. He slouched on one of the swivel chairs and leaned back in it, clasping his hands behind his neck. 

He half listened to their conversation, while he was thinking about teaching Daniel basketball. He could imagine them play together in the driveway. The basket might hang a little too high for the kid. But they could put it up elsewhere. Daniel would probably be surprised at how good he might be at it. He had developed strong arm muscles due to his constant work outs and he could run like the wind. They could... 

"You found something," Carter's voice cut through his musings. He blinked because he thought she meant him. But her eyes were still focused on the screen. 

".... You know, at first we thought it was just a dead seal maybe. We only saw a shadow on the ultrasound. It was too deep to tell. We’ve gotten it out now and currently Osbourne and Woods are doing the ultrasound. The results should be ready soon. We will also take a tissue sample. I thought you would like to hear what we've got here when it's done." 

"Are you certain of what it looked like?"

"Pretty sure. But we will have to wait for the results... I'm glad we got it out in time. In another week or two, it'll be dark most of the time, much too cold to work outside. So we were lucky we could get it out of the ice now and will have time to study it. As far as coming back next year, well, you know it's not up to me. The Pentagon reevaluates our presence here every year. Take it up with them," the other woman - surely a scientist - answered. 

Jack assumed she was one of the Doctors stationed in Antarctica. Where the other Stargate had been found.

He grimaced. He had very personal memories about finding that gate, and they weren't fond memories. He liked snow and winter, because he liked skating and he'd been raised in Minnesota where the winters were rough and the ice had been his playground. Antarctica, however, was definitely not his idea of a cool winter vacation. Especially when you weren't dressed properly and were lying in a cave with broken rips puncturing your lung.

He heard Carter and her colleague chat about the DHD they had retrieved back then. It had died shortly after. It had been used a few times and then just ran out of energy. Carter was filling her in about why that had happened and then she said, "We think we now have evidence that the gate we found down there is one of the oldest in the entire system. It could be as much as 50 million years old."

"The Antarctic plate wasn't covered by a glacier back then. It wasn't even at the South Pole."

"Well, the gate didn't necessarily originate there. It could have been moved from another planet at any point in time, but that's what we need to try and determine. There has to be something else down there. So maybe you have discovered something major that will help us."

Jack zoned out again. His thoughts went back to Daniel and basketball. He knew he'd never be able to get Daniel into a team. Even if it turned out he was a good player. Daniel had far too many issues about being with other – real - kids to feel comfortable in a team sport. Then again he never thought the kid would even consider trying in the first place. Maybe he would really enjoy playing... 

*******

"Oh, look at this... it's harder than learning Goa'uld," Daniel sighed to no one in particular. He was lying on his old couch, his laptop in front of him, as he worked on his Inuit lessons with an online program. In between he sipped at his first cup of coffee. Okay, technically it was his second one, since he’ d already had his morning coffee at home. But it was his first cup since he got here. And it was almost too late for coffee so he had to make sure he'd get his fill. He wasn't supposed to have coffee in the late afternoon and he really didn't go against that rule often, because he knew he'd get dizzy and a bit high if he drank too much.

And Jack would know if he was high on caffeine or sugar. The last time he'd been on a coffee high after one or two  or three cup s too many, it had cost him the coffee maker he used to have in his office. Now he had to go to the commissary to get coffee. Or sneak one from Robert Rothman next door. 

Flyboy, who was on the floor by the couch, rolled on his back and glanced up at him expectantly. The boy reached down and rubbed the dog’s belly.

"They have three words for dog... kringmerk. A dog playing is... unayok. And the leading dog is called issorartuyok. Guess that's what you are, huh? A leading dog."

Flyboy let out a bark and rolled back over on his front.

"Building sentences is really difficult."

When the dog rose to his feet and barked again, Daniel knew someone was coming. A moment later Flyboy made a leap at Jackson who had just turned around the corner and entered through the open door. The man took Flyboy's giant head between his hands and greeted the cheerful dog with a few soft spoken words.

Daniel watched them cuddle and bit his lip. He tried to get rid of the sting of jealousy that hit him. This was Jackson's dog in the first place. He hit the "Enter" button on his keyboard to move to the next lesson, when Jackson shooed the dog off and hesitantly came over.

"Hi Daniel."

"Hey," Daniel said casually.

"How's it going?" the other archeologist asked.

"I'm fine."

"Um, that's great."

Daniel frowned. This was new. Jackson never made small talk on the rare occasions when he came into his office. 

"Can I... uh, help you with something?" he asked uncertainty and looked up into the face he’d once called his own. It was like looking in some freaking futuristic mirror. 

Except this wasn't a mirror image. 

He was real.

Daniel wondered how long it might take until he'd get used to seeing the other guy around. He wasn't even really another guy. He was... Daniel. And yet, he wasn't. He wasn't sure from which time exactly Jackson had come. He could only guess it might be from maybe three years into the future, from the bits and pieces Jackson had shared with them. He didn't look that much older than Daniel had when he'd looked like Jackson. There was, however, something different about him. Daniel couldn't put his finger on it. 

Maybe Jack could tell him.

But Jack never talked about Jackson.

And Daniel never asked.

"No. No you can't. But I think Sam has something you should take a look at. She's in her lab," Jackson said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You should go and take a look."

"I'm working on my Inuit skills," Daniel objected. 

"It's... huge," Jackson promised. "Meaning of life stuff."

Daniel scowled at his laptop for a moment longer, then finally shut it down and closed it. "Are you..."

"Oh, no. I'm not coming with you. I just came here to tell you it might be something you'd be interested in," his counterpart explained as he made his way to the door.

Flyboy pulled his leash out from under Daniel's feet with his teeth and followed him. He put the leash on the floor in front of him and sat down expectantly. The archeologist picked it up and let it run through his hands. "Hey, it's amazing what he learned since he is with you. I never had time to train him in Egypt, other than guarding things. Now he's bringing me the leash."

"Jack says he needs to behave at least a little if he wants to stay with us. So, he's training him. Flyboy is a smart dog," Daniel answered and got up from his couch. This was the longest conversation they had since they'd left Egypt. It was weird. 

"Do you mind if I take him for a walk?"

"It's your dog." Daniel shrugged.

"Yeah... but right now he's yours, too," Jackson said slowly and attached the leash to Flyboy's collar. The dog jumped up and started drag ging Jackson towards the door. A moment later they were gone.

Daniel stood in his office and tried to make sense of Jackson’s awkward behavior. Then he decided to find out what Sam had to show him.

When he entered Sam's lab, he found Jack swiveling around in a chair while Sam was talking to a woman over the computer. Jack played with a ball pen, clicking it up and down. His slightly bored expression changed into one of relief and a smile appeared on his face when he spotted Daniel.

"Hey, what's up," the colonel greeted him.

"Jackson said Sam has something to show me."

Jack frowned. "Jackson?"

"Yeah. He was in my office a minute ago... who is Sam talking to?"

"Oh, some gee... scientist in Antarctica." Jack shrugged.

Daniel craned his neck to get a better view of the screen. "That's Doctor Michaels," he explained. "She's part of the team of archaeologists and other scientists that work..."

"In Antarctica, yes. And I'm SO not going there," Jack said emphatically.

"Go there?"

"As in traveling."

"Why would you go to Antarctica?" Daniel asked confused.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I said I'm NOT going there."

"Okay. So why are you here then and what are they talking about?"

"She said she needed to discuss something important. But when I got here she was already talking to..."

"Michaels," Daniel helped.

"Yeah. And now I'm half asleep... I was trying to leave, but she insisted I stay. Seems they found something in the ice. Possibly a frozen yeti. Carter just received some over the top fascinating results." 

Daniel turned to Sam, who gave him a smile and turned back to the screen. "Are you sure it is a humanoid body, Doctor?" she asked the other woman, excitement vibrating in her voice. She had placed her elbows on the table, her nose almost touching the screen..

"Yes. According to these results it was far deeper into the ice than the two Jaffa we found in our first year here. Major, this is stunning! Did you see the results I mailed you?"

"Yes and you are correct, they are stunning. Okay. I have to clear this with my superiors, then I will let you know if we'll be coming down."

Daniel and Jack exchanged a look. 

Sam ended the conversation and cut the connection. She turned to them, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling in a way they did when she was either happy or excited about some amazing, incredible thing she was studying. Daniel was perhaps the only other member of SG-1 who understood her enthusiasm and obsession with her work. Not even Baxter was ever that engrossed in his work. 

Even her voice seemed a tad lighter than usual, as she started to explain. "I'm sorry that took so long. We should move this to the briefing room. I'd like to recommend sending a team out to Antarctica, including me and Doctor Fraiser."

"What did they find?" Daniel asked.

“And what did you want from me in the first place, Carter?”

"They found a human body. The preliminary analysis of the oxygen content in the ice indicates that it's far older than it should be," Sam told him, ignoring her CO for now.

Jack glowered, but Daniel asked, "How old?"

"According to the results I got from Doctor Michaels, this body is over twenty five to thirty five million years old." 

Daniel blinked and shook his head. "That can't be right. Humans evolved on Earth between eight and nine hundred thousand years ago."

"Yes! Exactly! Daniel, it's unbelievable!"

Daniel tapped his index finger against his nose and thought for a second. Then he grabbed her hands and squeezed them. "Sam! That could be real..."

"...big," they both ended the sentence together. They looked at each other with wide eyes. 

Jack made one last round on the swivel chair and then got up and walked over to the wall phone.

"I’ll call the general," he sighed. "Looks like we're going to need some warm underwear." 

Thirty minutes later, Daniel was perched on the edge of his seat in the briefing room, squirming and wiping his sweaty palms on his pants under the table. Hammond had just granted permission for SG-1 to go to Antarctica and take a closer look at Michaels's discovery.

"The results are a major breakthrough. For all I know she could be from another planet. It doesn't make sense otherwise since there wasn't any human existence on Earth that long ago," Sam explained.

"And you are sure about the age?" Hammond asked.

"The results are clear, sir," Carter nodded 

Daniel said, "She was most likely already in the ice when the Goa'uld got there and managed to open the Antarctica gate. Which they did after the Gate in Giza had been buried roughly 2000 years ago."

"Well, that's because a crevasse was formed. It allowed the wormhole to connect and ultimately create a larger opening. The Jaffa were frozen after that," Sam nodded.

Janet read through the papers again. "But she wasn't. She was frozen long before that."

"Are we sure it is a 'she'?" the general asked curiously.

"According to the ultrasound, yes. We could be wrong of course. It is just a guess," Sam replied.

"But the point is," Daniel piped up, anxious to make this clear, "that if she is so much older than the Jaffa - she's neither Jaffa, nor Goa'uld. Because she was there long before any Goa'uld or Jaffa set foot on Earth. Whoever this is, she was probably around when the Antarctic Gate was first being used."

"Michaels's team is taking more core samples to determine if she was actually frozen in the same vein. They are also analyzing tissue samples right now," Janet said. 

Jack, who was rolling his pen between the index fingers of his hands, cleared his throat. "Listen. I'd like to share your enthusiasm on this. Could you bottom line it for me?" 

"Jack," Daniel started before anyone else could. "This is meaning of life stuff. This is..."

He skidded down from his seat, but realized he felt too little like this. So he climbed up in the black chair again, tucked his legs under his body and sat back on his heels, which seemed much more appropriate. "We might be looking at evidence that human beings evolved long before we thought they did. Or - since she was found near the Gate - she might not even be from Earth!"

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "Darwin would be crushed."

Hammond gave a firm nod at his people and rose from his seat. "SG-1, you have a go. I already arranged a flight. Your plane leaves at oh four hundred tomorrow. Is that time enough for all of you to get your equipment together?"

Everybody agreed.

Daniel felt his heart pound in his chest. Should he ask? What if the general wouldn't grant it? But this was so... so... earth shattering. Spectacular. He licked his lips in anticipation. He had to ask permission. Jackson had told him this was something he needed to see...

"I'd like to have Daniel on his one, sir," Jack said out of the blue. 

As if he had been reading his thoughts. 

Daniel was stunned for a moment. They exchanged a look. Then Jack's hand gently touched Daniel's chin and he felt his mouth close. Oh. He had made the "guppy face" again, as Jack liked to call it.

Hammond, who had already collected his papers, looked up and met Jack's eyes.

Daniel didn't move, didn't breathe. All he did was repeat a silent mantra to himself. P _leaseplease,letmego,letmego,pleaseplease..._ It was utterly childish and he knew it. But nobody could hear, so he went on with it, biting his lower lip to prevent the words to slip out loud.

"You mean the other Doctor Jackson, Colonel?"

"I mean Daniel," Jack said quietly.

"He is grounded," Hammond objected. But it didn't really sound like it was an issue with him. More like it was something he had to say out of duty. 

"This is no off world mission," Sam chimed in. "Sir, I think Daniel should go with us."

"I, too, think, DanielJacksonO'Neill would be useful on this mission," Teal'c gave his approval. 

Hammond sat down heavily and looked at Daniel, who was still holding his breath more or less. Then the blue eyes of the SGC leader met Jack's again. "Of course you meant Daniel," the older man said, and the beginning of a smile curled his lips.

Daniel took a gulp of air. "I'll be good," he blurted out before he could hold back. "I won't get into any kind of trouble. I..." Feeling his face burn with embarrassment, he still couldn't stop himself from spluttering on. "I have to go, sir! This is the most outstanding discovery in Earth history since... since... discovering the gate... I need to see this! Doctor Baxter is on a mission with SG-11, so he can't go with SG-1. And I'm sure Jack wants another opinion on this... From another archaeologist. General, I know I didn't prove myself very valuable for the team in the past, but..."

"It's alright, son, it's alright. You have permission to go. I will hold you to your promise not to get into any kind of trouble though," Hammond interrupted him, a suppressed chuckle in his voice.

Daniel nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Get ready then. Dismissed." With a last smile, Hammond left the briefing room and walked into his office. 

Daniel pulled his legs out from under himself and almost fell on his butt when he jumped up and the chair rolled backwards. Jack grabbed hold of his left arm and steadied him until he was on both feet again. 

"Take some tranquillizer with you, Doc," Jack said with a grin.

"Har har. What are you waiting for? Let's pack," Daniel pressed. Then his eyes grew big. "Oh. Oh, I have a lot of things to pack from my office... and I have to ask Jackson if he can take care of Flyboy... we can't take him with us, can we?"

"Nope. You go and pack your stuff. I'll pick you up for lunch later," Jack said.

"I don't have time for lunch," Daniel called back over his shoulder, dashing out of the briefing room.

"Don't run on the stairs!" Jack yelled after him.

Daniel pretended not to hear that as he was flying down the staircase. He almost knocked Siler over, who pressed himself flat against the wall. 

"Sorry, Siler," Daniel mumbled and took the second stairs with less speed. 

When he finally entered his office, he came to an abrupt halt at the sight of Jackson sitting on his couch, reading a book. The man had made himself comfortable and Flyboy who had been lying next to him, jumped up and greeted Daniel with a low bark and a lick to his hands.

Jackson closed his book and looked expectantly at him. "How did it go?"

For a moment, Daniel forgot he was feeling awkward in the presence of Jackson. He started tossing things on his desk. His laptop. the power pack, his journal... He needed a few books as well... or maybe not... the base in Antarctica was a fully functional lab. They would provide everything he needed there. While he was thinking all of this over, he answered Jackson's question. "You were right. And the best part - they’re taking me with them. Do you know who she is? What she is? Can you tell me..." Daniel stopped mid sentence when he realized he was rambling. He dropped his journal to his desk and turned to look at the man. "You can't tell me, right?" 

"Um, no. I'm sorry. But it's worth it, believe me."

"Did you go there, too?"

"Yes. I read everything about it later in the journal and the mission reports," Jackson told him hesitantly. He placed the book he had been reading on the couch, then stood and turned to leave. Before he reached the door he seemed to have second thoughts and turned around again. He took a step towards Daniel and then stopped. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his blue BDU pants and looked at his feet for a moment, as if deciding what to do or say next. When he raised his head and looked at him again, there was something painful in his blue eyes. 

Dan iel stared back at him, still fascinated by how different he seemed to look without the glasses. Jackson's eyes were still puffy and red around the rims, because he had problems getting used to the contacts he was wearing. 

Daniel chewed his lower lip, but stopped when he caught the other doing the same.

They exchanged a look.

"This is awkward," they both uttered, then they both pushed up their glasses. Except there were no glasses on the man's face. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and gave a nervous grin. "Old habits"

"Why the contacts?" Daniel asked.

"When I was in Egypt I gave my glasses to someone who was in more need of them than I was. I got by okay without them, but when I started working full time again here, I got headaches. I decided to go with contacts, because it's... a simple way to not to look like..."

"Me.”

"Yeah. Like you looked... before."

"That's.. um... nice. But if you're going to live at the Alpha site we won't see each other, so you can wear glasses if you like. I hate contacts. I tried a few years ago."

"I know."

Daniel groaned and turned away from this familiar stranger. "Of course you know."

"Sorry," Jackson mumbled.

"No. It's... okay, I guess. It's like when we met those robots. That was awkward, too."

"Yeah. I would have liked to see the two Jacks fighting on Juna, though. Sam said it was a good show," Jackson grinned suddenly.

"She made them stop before it really started, but it would've been cool to watch them," Daniel mused. "Much more fun than losing my head I guess."

"Or watching your clone losing his head. I don't know why it's always me who dies," Jackson joked.

"Or gets downsized," Daniel sighed.

"Tortured."

"Addicted."

Daniel couldn't help the grin that slipped out. 

"Yeah," they said in unison. 

Jackson pulled one hand out of his pants pocket and for a second it looked like he wanted to pat Daniel's shoulder or ruffle his hair. Daniel froze; he didn't want to be touched by this adult version of himself. Jackson let his hand fall to his side. Daniel took a step backwards and the moment of relaxation and ease between them was gone. 

He turned and went to his desk, where he started to rummage through his things again.

Then his adult voice came from somewhere behind him. Worried.... Had he sounded like that when he'd been worried? Or alerted? Hadn't his voice been... deeper? He realized he had wondered about that before. When they had first met in Egypt

"Daniel... I don't know how much I'm supposed to tell you. But there is one thing you should do."

Without looking back at the man, Daniel stuffed things into his backpack. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rising. "What is it?" 

"You have to convince Jack to let you talk to her. No matter what, you need to talk to her."

Slowly Daniel turned around and, almost against his will, searched for Jackson's eyes again. They were dark with worry and a subliminal sadness that always seemed to be there, underneath. "Her? You mean Doctor Michaels?"

"You will know when you're there. Just... just promise me, okay? That you will do everything to make Jack listen. If you have to, go against his orders. He will understand eventually," Jackson said, his voice still low but urgent.

Daniel took a deep breath and shook his head. "I promised to stay out of trouble. I've been grounded from gate travel. That they are taking me with them is like a little miracle. Jack requested me. It's the first time since... and I can't... ."

"But you will once you realize how important it is. You always do what you think is best for the mission. Or what your inner voice tells you," Jackson challenged him quietly. "Because this isn't about Jack and you. This is about so much more. And you'll know it."

"Jack is going to be mad..."

"Yeah. When did that ever keep you from doing what you had to?"

Daniel felt his fingers curl around the black journal he was holding. "It's different," he mumbled. "It's much more complicated now. I made him angry or sad all the time for a while. And I don't want to do that anymore."

Jackson crouched in front of him and looked into his eyes. He didn't touch Daniel. But he was very close and Daniel wanted to take a step back. But he couldn't.

"I don't remember this," the man said softly. "And when I read your journals I could only read between the lines. I figure you and Jack went through some rough times. But you are still... Jack and Daniel. And he might get mad. But he will get over it. He always does."

Daniel blinked. Something wasn't right here. "Didn't Jack tell you about... us? How it was... is... between us. Now?"

Jackson got up and Daniel saw him biting his lip.

"Not much," he said curtly.

"Why not? You must have talked before you came back in time?"

"He clued me in on what I needed to know."

"But..."

His adult self held up his hand and Daniel closed his mouth, feeling sick all of a sudden. A cold hand clutched around his heart. Their eyes met again for a brief moment and Daniel was taken aback by the anguish he saw there. "What," he breathed "What happened? What is going to happen?" 

But Jackson cleared his throat and said, "You know I can't tell you. Neither can I tell you what will happen in Antarctica. I'm sorry, Daniel. You have to figure this out yourself. There are rules. I didn't make them, but I vowed to follow them. If anything triggers your subconscious too fast or too early, the consequences could be devastating. For you and everybody else. I’m not trying to sound like Oma Desala here. But it's better you just follow your path."

"So what are you doing then? Giving me a..."

"...nudge in the right direction, yes. It's all I can do," Jackson finished his sentence for him. Then he sighed. "I shouldn't even do that. But since I'm obviously stuck here... not only in this time line, but here at the mountain, I figure it's the least I can do."

"Great," Daniel muttered and zipped his backpack close.

"You'll be fine," the other guy assured him. "You’ve got to trust me on this. This isn't easy for you, I know, but it's worth it. I'll pick up Flyboy this evening and take care of him until you're back."

Daniel watched him leave. He didn't call after him or ask more questions. He knew it was useless. Instead he sat down on the couch and went through the copy of the test results from the Antarctica lab. 

He felt his thoughts wander away from it.

What had been going on between Jackson and the future Jack? There was something, Daniel had a feeling he should know about. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, forcing his mind back on the matter at hand. Jackson wouldn't tell him anything. And maybe it wasn't even important anymore. The future had already been changed, right?

Right.

Then why didn't he tell him?

It made no sense.

Daniel took a deep breath. Tissue sample. That's what he should think about. The tissue sample had yet to be tested. He assumed they would know much more once they arrived at the outpost. 

He opened his backpack and put the copies inside. At that moment Jack walked in, carrying a tray with food and a glass of juice. Flyboy bounced over to him, but backed off when Jack told him to, so they wouldn't collide.

"Lunch time for little archaeologists," he announced cheerfully and placed the tray on Daniel's desk. 

"Don't put it on the translations for P54X... whatever... just don't put it there," Daniel told him sternly.

"If you'd clear your stuff up from time to time there'd be enough space for three trays," Jack muttered, but picked it up and waited until Daniel had shoved the important papers onto a growing pile of other papers. 

Jack placed the tray on the desk again, Daniel took a look at the food; mashed potatoes, salad and a chicken leg. "Ketchup was out," Jack apologized while he petted and cuddled the dog who tried to get past him and have a look at the good smelling food.

"'s okay. I'm really not very hungry anyway."

Jack gave the dog a final pat on the back and came over, pointing at the plate with food. "This is a cliché, Daniel. We have this conversation at least every two or three days. Whenever something keeps you busy or you are in a bad mood, or you're excited about something, or the weather is bad..."

"No, that's not true. Bad weather has nothing to do with my appetite whatsoever," Daniel muttered. He watched Jack pick up a green leaf from the salad bowl and eat it.

"This is good. Fibers, carbohydrates... "

"I'm not a rabbit." 

"Daniel, take the fork, eat the mashed potatoes and some salad or some chicken and hurry up. We need to get home and pack some of your warm clothes. And we have to buy you a snow suit. There are no kid-sized thermal uniforms on base. "

"A snow suit?"

"Yep. At least some snow pants."

"Kids snow pants?"

"No, Daniel. Snow pants for the dog. Of course kids snow pants. I think we should get some fleece shirts, too. Walmart has them on sale. We wanted to go there anyway."

Daniel blinked. "What?"

"We talked about it this morning," Jack said patiently.

"Um... what?"

"Clothes, Daniel."

Jack handed him the fork and Daniel started eating some mashed potatoes while he tried to get his head around the kids snow pants. He hadn't needed snow pants last winter. He had been reluctant about going out into the snow. He didn't like the cold, never had, and they hadn't visited any cold planets. Or maybe SG-1 just didn't take him there. He had no idea why, but apparently he had no winter BDUs for the field. 

Daniel remembered now Jack telling him something, over breakfast this morning, about Walmart having fleece shirts and sweaters on sale this week. 

He frowned. He always got his clothes at Walmart, unless he needed a suit or something fancy for special events. Walmart had cheap, but good clothing for guys. Plain things mostly. Daniel liked plain shirts, or plaid, nothing fancy. Daniel had always liked shopping for his shirts and pants at Walmart because the assortment was manageable without being too boring. He hadn't changed his shopping habits much after he got little. He still went to Walmart.

"Can we go somewhere else?" he asked hesitantly.

Jack looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Why? And besides... Walmart has them on sale."

Daniel shrugged. "I just want to go somewhere different this time. Can't we go to the mall?" 

Jack shrugged. "I guess so. You sure?"

"Um, yeah."

"O-kay. It's your money. So where do you wanna go?"

Daniel chewed on his lip. He hadn't thought about that. Where did kids usually get cool hip clothes? Before he could make up his mind, Jack said, "REI Clothing? They have outdoor stuff and normal clothes."

"Um, okay. Do I need shoes, too?"

"I think you do. Snow boots. Actually, I have a list."

Daniel let out a quiet sigh. He ate some more of his lunch, figuring that he would get hungry later if he refused to eat now. While he nibbled at the chicken he looked over at Flyboy who was drooling as he watched every bite that went into Daniel's mouth. 

"We have to take Flyboy with us. Jackson will take care of him, but he's busy right now. He said he'll pick him up this evening."

"Daniel, so help me, if that dog starts tearing my truck apart again..." Jack started.

When the dog had accompanied them to a shopping trip for the first time they had left him alone in the truck. Flyboy had panicked or gotten bored and ripped holes into the leather seats with claws and teeth. The steering wheel had some nice teeth marks now and there were several scratches on the dashboard. 

Jack had practiced leaving the dog alone in his Ford250 since then. He put him in and left him there just for a few minutes and then returned and gave him a treat if he had been good. They had made progress, but the dog still didn't like being left behind. He was used to going where he wanted and to stay with whom he wanted. Being left alone somewhere without being able to get free was something he still didn't like very much. 

"Um, I guess if we take him out of the truck and maybe tie him  on the truck bed... "

"No. He's going to bark at everything and anyone that passes him.  He’ll go totally nuts. We can leave him with T, I think," Jack muttered.

"Teal'c is at the gym now and later he will be kelno'reeming," Daniel objected.

"Carter?"

"Flyboy isn't allowed to be in Sam's lab. Because of all the expensive equipment."

"Oy. He isn't allowed to stay in the infirmary either, so Janet is a no go, too."

"So we take him with us and hope for the best, right? He is doing better at staying in the truck now. The last time you left him ten minutes and he didn't start to rant," Daniel said.

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and eyed the black dog suspiciously. 

**III**

When they reached REI Clothing it had started to rain and the sky was gray and cloudy. The big parking lot was crowded and Jack didn't get a space near the entrance. REI was a big outdoor gear and clothing center on Woodmen Road. It was well known for its sports and camping equipment. They also had good warm clothing made for all weathers and sizes.

Jack turned off the truck and rolled his eyes at Daniel's continuing muttering and complaining about the list of clothing. "Is this really all necessary? We're not going to camp out there. They have heaters in White Rock station, right?"

"Right, but it's still cold. It's better to be prepared as you well know. There's always something that could go wrong," Jack told him. "Doing the freezing to death thing is not very high on my agenda - or yours. I've been there; done that; got the t-shirt."

"What could go wrong on a science station that has all the latest and the newest technical equipment," Daniel argued, waving the long list of clothing in front of Jack's face.

"Oh, you know... Bad weather, broken heater, blizzards... did I mention that the heater might give out?"

"Okay, I'm not stupid. I know the Antarctica is not Colorado, Jack. But..."

Ignoring Daniel's whining for the moment, Jack unfastened his seat belt and turned to look at the dog who was on his blanket in the backseat. Flyboy gave a friendly woof and placed his forepaws on the back of Jack's seat. 

"You'll stay here," Jack told him sternly and pointed down at the blanket covered seat.

Flyboy let out another woof, then growled deep in his throat.

"No way," Jack growled back.

They glared at each other for a moment. Finally the dog let out a huff of air and slowly placed himself back on his blanket. Jack reached over and rubbed his back. 

Daniel knelt on his seat and gently patted the dog’s head. "Be good, okay? We'll be back in no time." 

Flyboy seemed a bit sullen. Obviously he wasn't happy at being left alone. 

"You'll get a biscuit when we get back," Daniel told him. "I know Jack has some in his jacket."

O'Neill thought it might be a good idea to give the dog a chewing bone or something, next time they had to leave him in the truck. That way he would be busy chewing on the bone and leave the truck alone – maybe. He searched his jacket pockets to make sure he had the biscuits Flyboy liked so much. Since they had the dog, Jack always carried dog treats with him. You never knew when you needed them. Daniel patted the dog a few more times, but it didn't seem to cheer the big guy up. Flyboy just turned his head away from them and sulked. 

"Maybe I should stay with him and you just buy everything from this list in my size," Daniel suggested hopefully.

"Nice try, buddy." Jack snorted.

They left the truck and started walking towards the big shopping center.

"I just hope he leaves it in one piece," Jack sighed.

"He's a good dog," Daniel said.

"Yeah. Just a little hyper at times," Jack muttered back.

"He's just not used to all this yet. When I came here from Egypt the first time, I had to get used to everything, too. It takes a while." 

The place was huge. It was more a warehouse than a shop. Big signs were hanging from the ceiling, telling them what could be found where. There were aisles for fishing equipment, horseback riding, skiing, ice skating and roller skating. Clothing for kids and adults was upstairs. 

Jack led Daniel up the escalator to the higher level and a few moments later they were walking through the kid's aisle.

When they went shopping in Walmart, Daniel just strolled through the sections and selected whatever he wanted. Once they had gone through the struggle of trying clothes in his first weeks after the incident that made him little, they had decided to buy them by just going for the right size and holding them against Daniel's body to see if they fit. It worked pretty well for the most part, except for shoes. Jack insisted on trying on shoes to make sure they fit properly. They both weren't too keen on clothes shopping and the sooner they were done and finished, the better. 

In this wonder land of outdoor activity there were different sections for everything. Shirts to the right, sweaters to the left, pants at the back wall. Everything was itemized and sized as well. There were boys and girls sections, too.

As soon as they had entered the boys section, a nice blonde came towards them and asked what they were looking for. 

"Fleece Shirts and sweaters," Daniel said.

"Plaid or plain if possible," Jack added.

"Um, actually, not plaid - or plain," Daniel objected.

Jack looked down at him. "What?"

"I'd like something... uh... cool," he said in an almost questioning tone, squinting up at the friendly woman. 

She smiled in return. "We have all sorts of cool shirts. Come with me."

As they followed the saleswoman, Jack bent down to him. "Something... cool?"

Daniel just shrugged and walked a little faster.

A few moments later Jack watched Daniel dig through the stacks of Fleece shirts the salesgirl had pointed them to. He eyed the four shirts his little friend had chosen already. 

Black with some white graffiti on the front.

Red with a skater on the front.

Blue with a big Eight on the back. 

Yellow... 

Yellow?

"Daniel..."

"Mh? What do you think about this one, Jack?"

Jack stared at it. It was a yellow shirt with a grinning Buzz Lightyear on it.

"Toy Story?"

"Uh, well... I guess not," Daniel blushed.

O'Neill scratched the back of his head and tried to figure out what to make of this. "If you like it..." he started.

"No, I think this is a little too much." 

Then he chose a green one with a Jurassic Park label. He gazed down at it for a moment and put it away with the remark he had never liked the movie. His next choice was a shirt that looked like an Eagles hockey shirt. Daniel frowned at it and then shrugged and threw it on the stack of shirts he wanted to buy.

"Do you think that's enough?"

Jack nodded and tried to wrap his head around this new choice of clothing while he followed his kid to the checkout. 

A little while later they went down to the ski-clothing section. Daniel carried his bag proudly through the crowded shop, a satisfied grin on his face.

He really seemed to enjoy this now.

Jack made several attempts to ask him what was wrong, but closed his mouth each and every time before he actually could ask. 

Maybe Daniel just thought it was time for something new?

Why should he question everything the kid did out of order? Perhaps this was just a good day and Daniel decided to let his hair down? He was going on his first mission in over six months. He might just be a little giddy and excited about that. Maybe this was one of those subconscious things Svenson had told him about. That he was happy about going to 'Iceland' and therefore his kidside took over and decided to... to do what? Get some hip clothes to express his good mood? Something like that? 

Aw crap. Jack wasn't really good at all this psychological stuff. Svenson had recommended a few books about kid psychology to him and he had considered getting them. He had looked both books up on the net and started to read the preview. It had given him a headache. Not because he didn't understand the contents. It was the whole shrink-thing that somehow squicked him. He liked Svenson. Well, at least he respected her and he could acknowledge that she had helped him in dealing with Daniel. She had brought them on the right way and Daniel seemed to get some advantages out of the counseling, too. 

But Jack wasn't going to get into the psychological stuff himself so he could question and analyze every step Daniel took and every word he said. He'd probably end up considering everything and trying to decide if it was "normal" or not. All those smart writers seemed to have the answers for everything. Who were they to claim the right to decide what was normal behavior and what wasn't? What was good for one kid might be horribly wrong for another kid, and what was considered the right treatment for hyper or educated kids might not be right for Daniel. 

Because Daniel didn't fit in. 

There was no book that could tell him how to do the right thing with Daniel.

There was no book and no shrink who could tell him how to deal with TWO Daniels, who were not only freaking each other out, but him, too. Well the new Daniel was, at least.

Jack started to think this was one damn situation where Svenson wouldn't be able to help. Because she didn't know the half of it.

She had no friggin' idea.

Jack knew they had to talk about this, he and Daniel, but he had no idea how to start and as long as Daniel seemed to be okay and not utterly stressed, O'Neill was putting it off. 

Jack looked at Daniel.

Daniel looked fine. 

They reached the skiing aisle and O'Neill watched Daniel make his way through the list and choose thermal underwear, pants, snow pants, gloves, a hat and two different jackets. One to wear against the cold and one to put over it in case they had harsh winds. Daniel went for green this time, like his fatigues were. And the warm jacket was black and gray. So nothing unusual there. But the windjacket had to be red for some reason. Well, Jack didn't argue that. If they were forced to be outside for what reason ever, he would see the kid in a red jacket far better than in a black one.

They decided on Mulluk boots and bear paw gloves. 

"You should get a  Balaclava , " Jack suggested, pointing at a stack of thin pull-over head and neck covers, with only eye slits.

Daniel grabbed one and pulled it over his head.

"How do I look?" 

"Like a mini bank robber." Jack grinned. "But it's good against the cold. I don't think we'll run around outside very much. Get it anyway, it'll keep you warm on the flight."

"I'm the avenger of the Good! Wicked witches and false gods beware," Daniel growled, rolling his eyes under the ski mask.

"Hail. Dorothy," Jack snorted and pulled the balaclava off Daniel's head. "Let's get you a scarf and some glacier glasses."

"What route are we traveling?" Daniel asked later when they waited in the checkout line.

"We'll hop around quite a bit. California, Hawaii, Australia..."

"Have you ever been to Hawaii, Jack?" Daniel asked curious.

"No. I was in California for a while though. It's nice."

Jack paid and took the bags this time since they had bought a lot of things. 

  
  


They could hear Flyboy as soon as they got near the truck. It was still raining and Daniel almost slipped in a puddle of water while they jogged back. When they reached their parking space Jack was aware of some people gathering around his truck, pointing at the windows and discussing something. The dog was barking like a maniac.

Two women and a man were glaring at them. 

"Is that your dog, Mister?" one of them, a tall brunette somewhere Jack's age, sniped.

"It's my car. So, yeah. It's..." Then as an after thought Jack patted Daniel's shoulder. "It's  _his_ dog."

"It's our dog," Daniel corrected politely.

"Don't you see how scared that animal is? How can you leave him in your car like this? Who knows for how long the poor little thing was trapped in there," the woman griped, her green eyes shooting daggers at him.

The "little thing" had climbed over into the front and was standing on the driver’s seat,  front paws on the steering wheel, barking at the people outside with bared teeth. 

"Actually, he belongs to..." Jack began, when he saw something white and fluffy welling out of the head rest of the passenger seat. "Dammit," he blurted out, ignoring the upset woman.

"That dog is making more noise than three dogs put together," the other woman chimed in. "I was about to call the police!"

"Leave your pet at home if it's not able to behave in the car," the man muttered.

"That poor darling is so upset," woman number one sniped.

Jack st o m p ed around the truck and ripped the passenger door open. Before he could utter a word, he was knocked over by who knew how many pounds of living dog. With a yell and a thud he landed on his ass and Flyboy was all over him slobbering his face and letting out little yelps of joy.

"Oh look!" woman number two now cheered. "He's so happy to see him!"

"Who knows how long he had to wait," woman number one grumbled.

"Daniel," Jack croaked, "get your monster out of my hair!"

But Daniel was busy trying to calm the audience. "We haven't had him for long. He has to get used to being alone in the car. We weren't away that long."

Flyboy was licking his ears clean. "Get OFF," Jack yelled finally and tried to shove him away.

It was Daniel who rescued him by just calling the dog softly by his name. Flyboy stopped shoving his tongue into Jack's ears and immediately went over to the boy. He licked Daniel's hands and jumped around him, his tail rotating like a chopper blade. 

To Jack's relief their audience lost interest and left one after another. 

"For cryin' out loud," he huffed and scrambled to his feet,  r ubb ing a hands through his wet hair. The rain was still pouring down on them. His pants were wet and muddy, too. Then his eyes caught sight of the foam padding coming out of the long tear in the headrest. The monster dog had ripped out a long strip of leather with his teeth.

"He's just so happy to see us," Daniel's voice came from somewhere behind Jack.

"He ate the interior of my truck - again," Jack whined as he tried to ignore the wetness at the bottom of his pants.

"It's just a little tear," Daniel said.

"He tried to destroy my..."

"Jack... look!"

"What?!"

He spun around and stared at the dog, who was sitting there a sad expression on his dark face. Even his pointed ears seemed to hang down a little. He looked at him with big eyes.

"He's sorry," Daniel, master of many languages, translated. 

"So? Will you look at this mess, Daniel? He's going into a dog shelter... damn... He's going to WALK home because he'll never ride in my truck again! You hear that? You're SO not going to get a ride!"

Flyboy yelped and ducked his head. Daniel knelt beside him, slung his arms around his four pawed friend and nuzzled his face into the thick black fur. They were both soaking wet by now. "Don't you worry. He’ll get over it," Daniel told the dog in a stage whisper. "He still loves you."

O'Neill grabbed the bags and threw them onto the passenger seat. Then he opened the backdoor.

"Stop playing the cute thing on me, you two," he grumbled and waved the dog inside. The last thing he needed was Daniel getting sick because he stayed out in the rain too long. Flyboy jumped in and settled on his blanket without any fuss. Daniel followed and put one hand protectively on the dog's head.

Jack closed the backdoor and got into the front, eying the damaged headrest.

"It's not bad," Daniel said helpfully from behind.

Jack heated the truck up as they left the parking lot and headed home.

After a moment of silence Daniel started to make choking noises and ducked his head.

"Daniel."

"Ja...ack?"

"It's not funny."

"Sor-ry."

The noises turned into coughing and then snorting.

"Oy, before you choke on it - alright. Laugh your head off. But if that dog ever runs you over and shoves his tongue into your ears, guess who's going to laugh then." 

Daniel burst into laughter.

Jack shook his head. That dog would cost him a fortune and the guy from the garage w as going to b e rich in no time. But Daniel and the dog were inseparable by now. Jack had the feeling that as long as he had the kid in his house, he’ d ha ve to put up with the dog, too. He somehow doubted Jackson would take Flyboy with him to the Alpha site. 

Well, there were worse things than having a giant dog at home. Actually Flyboy showed growing tendencies to protect the Wretch. He was good at guarding. Jack toyed with the thought to hire a trainer. Flyboy would make a good watch dog. 

"I'm sorry. But you should've seen you going down when he jumped you," Daniel snickered.

"Hey, that just proves the fact that everybody loves me," Jack said wisely. 

"Or maybe he wanted to attack first before you were going to bite his head off."

"We really have to do something about this habit. I can't be taking my truck into the garage every other week," Jack said wearily.  He also had to work on Flyboy’s other manners, like trying to run everyone over when he was excited to see them. 

"He'll learn. He's already doing much better now. He was just mad because we left him alone for so long," Daniel defended the dog.

"He's a dog. He shouldn't be mad at us."

"He has a strong personality. Maybe he is kind of an alpha dog. That's why his name is..."

"Aht! His name has nothing to do with his attitude. And his attitude has nothing to do with... his name. And his name has nothing to do with me, whatsoever," Jack huffed, vowing to buy a safety harness for the beast ASAP. 

He should have done that right away, but he had put it off so this was partly his own fault. 

  
  


*******

They changed clothes when they got home. Jack told Daniel he'd go over and give Trevor the key. They always did that so he could look after the mail and water the plants when they were going off world. 

Daniel went to his room and powered up his old laptop, which was sitting on his desk. It was the one he used at home and only for personal stuff. He wanted to check his e-mails before they had to leave for Antarctica. Ever since he'd become a kid again, he didn't get much personal mail anymore, but he was corresponding with Anna Walker from time to time. 

There was no answer to his last e-mail, so he figured Anna didn't have the time. She had signed up for the Pueblo junior hockey team and was busy with practice.

While he rummaged around on his desk, he thought back to the conversation he had with his adult self earlier. Frowning, he stopped what he was doing for a moment and sat down in his desk chair. He had managed not to think about it during the whole shopping trip. But now it started tumbling around in his mind again. 

What was he supposed to do?

Would it really be necessary to circumvent Jack's orders again, because he needed to talk to somebody? Maybe there was a way to avoid that. Daniel got angry suddenly. Jackson had told him to think of what was important and best for the mission. He had literally said Daniel should get into trouble because it was worth it. If talking to somebody on this mission was so important, why wasn't he going himself?

Of course that was a stupid thought. Jackson obviously wanted Daniel to achieve something from this talk with whoever. If he had to talk to Michaels, why should Jack not allow it? Jack had requested him on this trip, so he would be a part of the team that was going to examine the human body from the ice. 

So something else w as going on. Something Jack apparently wasn't going to like.

Same old, same old...

With a huge sigh, he got up and started making his bed, which he'd forgotten this morning. He also collected a few pieces of clothing that could go into the laundry. He had never been too tidy and since he was little, he just forgot to do things from time to time. Jack said it had nothing to do with the downsizing; he’ d remember  his chores if he didn't have his head in the clouds all too often. 

Daniel shrugged. There were always so many more important things than laundry or keeping his room tidy. He did clean up. He just wasn't as anal about it as Jack was. Well, nobody could blame him for that. It must be all that military training, Jack had gone through that made him the way he was. 

His thoughts went back to the mission that lay ahead of him. He was anxious all of a sudden. He wished Jackson  had given  him more details and not just bits and pieces. 

Jackson had been right about one thing though. 

Of course he'd always do what he thought was best for the mission and the goal of what they were doing out there. Even if he had to go against Jack's orders. It had always been that way. He had followed Jack's lead as long as he saw the necessity in it. Or as long as he himself couldn't see a better way even if he wasn't happy with Jack's decision. 

If he was forced to do  against Jack’s orders again, he would.

They would get over it eventually. They always did. 

Only now it seemed so much worse when Jack got mad at him. It had never been fun. And it had always hurt when they once again found out they were disagreeing on so many things. But now there was that part in Daniel that didn't want to fight all the way anymore. They had done so much fighting and  had had so many arguments, especially over the last year. 

Daniel liked how things were between them now. They were still arguing and they were still bantering. But it was better. There was less tension. He liked that they were so much easier with each other, even after what had happened in Egypt. Even with the adult Daniel around. 

And Jack had requested him on this trip. Had wanted Daniel to come along. How could he go on his first mission with SG-1 after such a long time with the knowledge that he might end up getting into some trouble again? Even if it was the right thing to do.

He had promised the general not to get into trouble.

Daniel let out a huge sigh.

There was just no way of knowing what to do right now. 

Since this was not an off world trip they were allowed to take more personal things with them. He gathered a few light books. No one knew how long they were going to stay on the Antarctica base. After a short hesitation he also put Amab into his bag. He had missed the old stuffed monkey in Egypt. He liked to have the old toy with him at nights. 

Amab's left ear was missing because Flyboy had chewed on it some time ago. Jack had given Amab the hairy eyeball the day after it had happened. He didn't say anything, but Daniel was sure his friend wanted him to put the monkey into trash. He wasn't ready for that yet, though. And he was too stubborn to ask Jack for a new cuddle toy. Somehow it wouldn't be the same as having his old kid toy in his bed. He had sentimental memories about his first real childhood that were associated with Amab. That was what it was all about. He didn't need a new cuddly toy. 

They would probably all stay in one room together in bunk beds. That meant, Sam and Teal'c, and maybe even Janet, would see Amab when he put him  o n his bed.

Daniel considered that for a moment, pulling the toy out again. He gazed at the smiling monkey face with the big brown eyes and the black rubbed off nose. With the nibbled off ear and the shaggy fur it really didn't look great. But it was his and he had always loved his Amab as a boy. He had carried him from foster home to foster home, from orphanage to orphanage. 

With an almost defiant firmness he stuffed the monkey back into the bag and closed it. He was eight. Jack kept saying he had every right to BE eight. That it was okay to give in to it. If they wanted a grown up Daniel Jackson, they could take the other one. 

He was tired of keeping himself on track all the time. There was no need to be someone he wasn't anymore. He could relax and allow the little-Daniel to come out - occasionally. Not only when he was alone with Jack. He didn't need to care about who saw it and who was there. 

He could. 

Maybe some day he really  _could_ do it.

Daniel went on the "mission" to check the house for things that were his and needed to be put away. He found his Nintendo in the living room and a few of Flyboy's toys in the dining room. When he picked up the hard rubber ball, Flyboy started to bark and tried to lure him into playing. 

He hesitated only a moment before he tossed the ball into the hallway, so Flyboy could run and bring it back. When he threw the ball for the third time, it bounced against the front door and hopped down the stairs into the living room. Flyboy dashed after it and almost turned over when he jumped down the steps and skidded on the wooden floor. Daniel had to laugh at the ambling dog and, when Flyboy brought the ball back, he threw it again.

The ball bounced down the stairs and Flyboy stormed after it and pounced on the toy with all four legs. But the ball zipped out from under the dog's paws and went flying. It hit the coffee table with a bang and bounced away from it. Flyboy went after it and tried to catch it again, letting out a joyful bark. Daniel sat on the stairs and watched the game.

Flyboy jumped on the little hard ball and the ball sprung away once more.

It was really cute and Daniel felt the light touch of bad mood disappear. He was grateful for the fact that playing with the dog distracted him. He was giggling  as he  call ed his dog to come over when he started to shove the coffee table across the room with his head, in the attempt to get to the ball that had rolled under it. 

He didn't hear the front door closing.

The next thing he heard was Jack bellowing from behind him, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?!"

Daniel jumped, and turned to look at Jack, who marched past him into the living room and grabbed the dog by his collar. He pulled Flyboy away from the coffee table and the ball, telling him to shut up when he started growl ing deep in his throat. 

"We were just playing," Daniel said stunned. He was standing on the bottom step now.

"Don't you think ruining my truck is enough damage for one day! Do you have to let him wreck the house, too! You know damn well, the ball is off limits in the house!"

"I... I didn't think..."

"Well, start thinking, Daniel!" Jack led Flyboy out onto the deck and slammed the door shut behind him. "There he stays until we are ready. Now go and get your bag. We have to leave in fifteen."

“But...”

“Now, Daniel!”

Daniel swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. Then he turned on his heel and ran to his room. 

Blinking away an errant tear he sat on his bed. He didn't need to pack anything else. It was all ready. So he just sat there and stared at the wall with the pyramid and the sand dunes around it. He wasn't really sure why the urge to cry was so strong. Because Jack had yelled at him - Jack hadn't yelled at him like this for some time - or because he had thrown Flyboy out into the rain. Or maybe because he had spoiled their fun. And there was the little part in him that started nag ging at him because he had known throwing the bouncing ball in the house wasn't a good idea. It could have smashed the window. Or Flyboy could have really damaged something else. He was a very big dog and sometimes a bit wild. There were other toys he could have used  like the rope or one of the chewing toys . 

Daniel rubbed a hand over his face and sniffed.

Then something heavy slammed against his door and a moment later, the handle was pushed down and the door opened. Flyboy trotted into the room and sat down in front of the boy. His fur was curled and looked like somebody had rubbed him dry with a towel.

A smile  lifted  the corners of Daniel's mouth. It was a good thing that most of the times Jack got angry it never lasted for long. Daniel went down from his bed and crouched on the floor next to the dog. He slung his arms around the massive neck and buried his face into the damp fur. It smelled like wet dog, which was not really a nice smell. But it was still comforting.

"I'm sorry I got us into trouble," he whispered into his ear.

Flyboy licked his neck and nudged him with his nose. It tickled a little and Daniel couldn't suppress a chuckle. When Jack popped his head through the open door a moment later, he felt better. 

This was new.

Ever  since Flyboy was living with them, Daniel didn't need to run to Jack for comfort all the time anymore. Sometimes when he was down, he would just cuddle the dog and feel better. When the angsty thoughts about Jackson were crawling too close, he played with the dog or stroked his black thick fur, and he started  calming down . Daniel liked that.

"Are you ready, kiddo?"

"Yes." Daniel got up and took his backpack. It was heavy but he managed to carry it out into the hallway alone. 

They left the house and were on their way to the mountain. Once there they would all get a few hours of sleep. A helicopter would pick them up and take them to their first destination on their route to Antarctica.

*******

An hour later SG-1 came together for a final team meeting in Daniel's office. Jack handed them the travel plan. They would go to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. From there they would fly to Hawaii. Then station stop in Australia. From there they would take a plane to MacMurdo and then further to the White Rock station. 

"We'll arrive in approximately three days at MacMurdo, if everything goes as planned. The weather looks okay. There might be a blizzard during the time we're there. But that shouldn't be a problem," he told them. 

"Doctor Michaels has already taken more tissue samples. She is still waiting for the results though. I can't wait to see it," Carter explained and shook her head. "This could really be something outstanding."

"I hope it is. Cassie wasn't exactly happy to stay with my sister this time. She has a science project at school and I had promised her to help. Now she is on her own."

"She'll manage," Carter said, patting Janet's arm sympathetically. 

"Yes, she will. But, sometimes it's just not about that." Janet sighed and for a moment she looked sad. "Sometimes I feel like I'm never there for the things that are important to her. It's just... oh, it's nothing. She's a tough girl and she's doing okay. It's just me, I guess. I wouldn't miss this opportunity for anything and Cass understands. They just grow so fast."

"That they do, DoctorFraiser," T said with his deep voice. 

Jack looked over at Daniel who was wedged between Sam and Teal'c on the ratty old couch. Next to the big fella he looked extremely small. Jack wondered what it'd be like to watch Daniel grow up again, all the way. Not just for a borrowed period of time. 

He caught himself trying to imagine what it would be like to have a teenaged Daniel to take care of.

They might be better off not going through that. 

Then again, things would perhaps get easier instead of worse. A fourteen or fifteen year old Daniel would be much more independent. He would be able to go out again - at least with a reasonable curfew - and could  get back his own credit card. He might even be able to go through the gate again at that age if he'd get his emotional problems under control. Physically he might be ready for that, too, if he kept up the training with Teal'c.

But seeing things as they were now, Daniel would grow up way faster than that. 

"I think we should call it a night, kids," he shook himself out of his thoughts and got up from Daniel's desk chair. 

Carter nudged Daniel with her elbow before she got up. "Sleep tight, Daniel. See you tomorrow."

They all said their Good Nights and left shortly after.

When Jack was alone with Daniel, he slumped down next to him on the couch. "I packed the chess board." 

"Cool."

"Yep. Maybe  we ’ll find some time to play between all the research and testing you're going to do on the  Y eti."

"It's not the Yeti, Jack. It's a humanoid body. Female presumably."

"So it's a lady-yeti," Jack joked. 

"Jaaack..." 

To Jack's satisfaction, Daniel chuckled. He had been a little subdued compared to the excitement he had shown during the briefing. O'Neill stretched his long legs and thought about how to choose his words for the things he had to say next. 

"I forgot," Daniel suddenly said, frowning hard.

"About what?"

"How much it costs when you have to fix your truck. I... I'm not used to think about those things anymore. I just... forgot. I can pay for it if you want me to."

"We're going to get a lattice for the truck as soon as we're back. And a safety harness. I should have  bought one  in the first place. But we've been off world twice already in the short time since we were back from Cairo and I forgot," Jack admitted.

"I didn't think about the ball either. That it could have crashed through the window. If you had to call a glazier so shortly before we had to leave... Or if Flyboy had hurt himself..."

"He's a big dog. It's okay to play and goof around. But I can't have him destroy our interior. He needs to learn there are things he isn't supposed to do in the house. Like shoving the table across the room."

"I know."

"How about I'll pay for fixing the headrest and we share the costs for the lattice and the harness?" Jack hadn't even thought about letting Daniel pay for any of it. But, he knew those things were important to the kid. He still insisted on throwing in some money on their living costs, too. It was a huge issue for him, being able to pay for certain things. So if he was offering, Jack knew he better took the offer without any protest.

"Yeah. That sounds good," Daniel said.

Jack placed an arm around the small shoulders and hugged the kid to his side. "Sorry, I yelled."

"'s okay. It wasn't fair to throw him out though. He didn't even know he had done something wrong. I played with him."

"I let him back inside after you were gone."

Daniel perked up at this. “I noticed that, yeah."

Jack nudged his shoulder. "Well, Jackson can enjoy his dog for a while now... Wanna bet how many of his socks will have holes in them when we're back? Or perhaps he'll chew up some very important work? There's nothing quite like dog drool on some fancy translations."

Daniel looked up at him. He knitted his eyebrows and slowly asked, "Aren't you supposed to give me "the talk" now? About... uh... off world rules and stuff?"

Which was exactly what he had planned to do. "Well, ye-ah. I was about to do that now. We're not going off world, though. But... "

"The rules are the same, right?"

"Right. You want to repeat them for me?"

"Don't leave the base, ask permission if you think you have to, abide by arrangements, follow orders... bottom line, stay out of trouble – or else," Daniel said.

O'Neill listened carefully and caught something in his voice. His youngest team member wasn't exactly sulking. But he didn't seem to be okay with the rules either. He was sitting next to him, a little stiff, and gazing down at the floor. There wasn't much light in the office so Jack couldn't make out his expression too clearly. He placed a finger under Daniel's chin and made him look up. 

"Daniel?"

"Jack?"

"Daniel..."

"Ja..."

"Stop it. Now, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing. I know those rules.," Daniel said promptly.

"But?"

"No buts. I’ll follow them. At least I'll try to."

Jack was still not convinced. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was not quite right. Daniel was tense and as soon as he took his hand away from the kid's face, he looked at his feet again and started swinging his legs. Which was a sure sign that he was nervous about something. 

The colonel took his arm away from behind him and placed his hands on Daniels shoulders. He turned him until he would face him if his head wasn't still looking down. 

"Look at me, Daniel," Jack commanded after a moment of silence. When the blond head came up, he continued, "Listen, Doctor Jackson..."

"Don't call me that," Daniel blurted out.

"It's who you are."

"Not anymore."

O'Neill had to chew on that for a second. He wasn't prepared for the anguish in the young voice. Swallowing the need to say something soothing for the moment, he gripped the kid’s shoulders more firmly. "Bottom line is, if you have a problem with the ground rules, I want us to sort it out before we arrive there. Otherwise I expect you not to pull any stunts. Understood?"

"Yes. I understand. But... what if... if... something's going to happen... and we can't agree on things? What if I can't... just... I mean, it's happened before, right? That we got in each others way and weren't able to solve it during the mission. Like when you wanted to destroy Lotan's ship and I was on it... Or..."

Jack raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected this. He had been prepared for some sulking or arguing. Not for this almost desperate outburst of worrying.

"Hey, it's not gonna happen," he tried to get the edge off his earlier words. "Don't brood over it too much. It's not a saving-the-world thing, Danny. We might freeze our butts off, but other than that I don't expect any nasty surprises. I had to remind you of those rules, okay?"

"Yeah," Daniel said subdued, staring down at his hands again.

O'Neill cringed at his own words. He was sure, he had just given his kid another reason to feel miserable. With a sigh he leaned back on the couch and waited for Daniel to say something. 

When that didn't happen, he said, "O-kay. I'm only gonna say this once. I really think I shouldn't need to tell you this. I'm taking you on this trip because you're still a valid member of my team. Not just because it's a safe mission. Well, it's not the only reason at least. This is how it goes; You do your thing and I'll let you work. If we differ on things, we discuss them. I'm not going to question your expertise - as long as there are no security issues. Can we agree on that?"

"I guess so," he mumbled after a moment.

"Good. I'm going to make you eat and sleep on a regular basis. Just so you know," he added and ruffled the soft blond hair.

He waited for the usual snippy response or a grimace and rolling eyes. But instead Daniel snuggled in and buried his face against Jack's side. A moment later little arms came around his middle and he felt himself squeezed with remarkable strength. 

"I didn't even thank you for letting me come," the kid finally mumbled, his voice muffled by Jack's shirt.

"Hey, as I said. I expect you to work. It's no vacation - Doctor Jackson O'Neill. Does that sound better?"

"I don't know. Daniel Jackson O'Neill isn't a doctor, yet," Daniel whispered. "Sometimes I'm not even sure who he is. If he is eight or thirty five. Or both."

After a moment Jack  said,  "You didn't change, Daniel. Even though your name did, and your size and age... you're still you. Even with him here - you are you. And you're still mine. Mine to keep, to love and to annoy the crap out of." 

"I know. I'm trying. It'll just take a while getting used to knowing he's here."

"Yeah. I know. Me too." O'Neill wished he had the right answers to all the questions they didn't even really know yet. He wished he could take the fear away from Daniel and himself.

 

 


	2. Frozen II

**IV**

"Hey, Daniel... Daniel, wake up." Jack nudged the boy snuggled against him.

Blue eyes opened sleepily and Daniel rubbed his small hands over his face. His fingers searched for his glasses that were tucked away into his new red wind jacket.

"Look out. Sunrise." Jack had to yell to be heard over the motor of the supply plane bringing them from MacMurdo out to White Rock Research Station.

After Danny had pulled the glasses out and put them on, he leaned past Jack to look out the window. The whole sky had turned a purplish-red color, its light reflecting on the ice underneath.

"Wow, it looks great," Daniel mumbled. 

"Yes, it does. And we're almost there. Put your balaclava on so you won't freeze your cute little ears off," Jack told him, earning himself an annoyed look.

"Do you want to live another day?"

"Gloves, hood, scarf," Jack ordered, grinning.

"Yes  _dad_ , and by the way... where's your scarf, and your gloves," Daniel muttered while he started to put the balaclava on. 

"Right here next to me." O'Neill started  bundling up, pulling a woolen thermal cap over his silver hair, and zipp ed up his black thick jacket. “You have your chewing gum?" he asked Daniel.

Instead of an answer the kid took a gum out of his pocket and peeled the paper off. They had found out that the take off and landing of the helicopter made Daniel's ears hurt. He also felt sick during the landings. The chewing gum Janet had given him helped at least with the pain in his ears.

The pilot told them he was going to prepare for landing now and a moment later the helicopter dropped a few feet down.

"Sorry," the pilot told them apologetically. "It's pretty windy today."

"Daniel, are you feeling sick?" Janet's worried voice came from behind them.

"Nono, I'm fine," Daniel muttered when the plane went down some more, taking a tight loop.

The kid pressed a hand on his belly. At the same time he was frantically chewing his gum. Jack pulled the ski-mask off Daniel's head again. If he was throwing up, he was better off without it being in the way. 

He grabbed one of the paper bags he had taken on board in California after they first found out that Daniel felt icky during the landing process. He opened the bag and held it under Daniel's chin. The boy heaved a few times but didn't return his last meal. 

"I'm... It's okay... I really don't get it. Never had it before. Never been sick in a plane... odd," he muttered, breathing through his mouth and going a tad paler when the helicopter dropped again.

Janet said. "Sometimes our bodies react differently as a child. I guess you will get rid of it when you change back into an adult."

“Didn't get sick on the plane to Egypt,” Daniel groused.

“That's kinda different. Big plane, not so much motion,” Jack said.

Janet nodded. “You should have taken a travel sickness pill.” 

"I don't like... pills," Daniel choked.

"Yeah, well, I don't like you puking all over me. So on our way back you'll take something. And that's an order," Jack said firmly while he rubbed Daniel's back to comfort him.

"We almost reached the ground, DanielJacksonO'Neill," Teal'c's calm voice came from the front seat next to the pilot.

With a thud, the plane landed and a moment later the motor died. 

"Thank you," Daniel sighed in the sudden silence and closed his eyes for a moment. Jack handed him the balaclava but said, "You better leave it off in case you have to throw up. Put your cap on though." 

"I won't," Daniel insisted, but complied and stuffed the ski-mask into his jacket. He put on his cap, scarf and gloves and zipped his jacket up.

They climbed out of the small plane, all feeling a little stiff after so many long flights all over the world. Teal'c manhandled the majority of the luggage on his broad shoulders and the two women took their packs. Jack grabbed his and Daniel's bags after he had talked to the pilot for a moment. 

The kid was still looking like a ghost. His eyes seemed to be unnaturally big behind the glasses. Jack placed the hoods of both his thick jacket and the windbreaker over Daniel's head. 

"You alright?" he asked a little worried.

"Uh, yeah, I'm... fine. Little dizzy maybe."

"You can take a nap as soon as we're settled."

"Is that an offer or an order?"

Jack put a hand on Daniel's back and together they walked through the ankle deep snow towards the dome the science station was under.

"Right now it's just an offer."

"Then you don't mind if I ignore it, right? Because generous as it is, I really have better things to do than taking a nap," was the snippy reply.

"... but if you insist on being snarky..."

"No. No, I'm... really... I appreciate the offer. But thanks."

A dark haired woman, wearing her long hair in a ponytail which stuck out from under the hood of her jacket, greeted them at the entrance. She had already done the shake-hand-thing with Carter and Fraiser. Teal'c was standing next to them, stoic as always. Now she turned to Jack and Daniel. "Hi. I'm Doctor Michaels." She smiled at them.

O'Neill gave her a nod. "Colonel O'Neill. That's..."

Daniel bent a little sidewards, but wasn't fast enough. He barely missed Doctor Michaels's boots, when he tossed his cookies into the snow.

"...Daniel," Jack finished dryly as he seized the swaying kid by his shoulders to steady him.

Doctor Michaels took a few steps back and looked a little green around the gills. “Is he... all right?"

"Just a little flight sickness," Jack assured her

"'m sorry," Daniel sniffed, flushing red with embarrassment.

In the follo w ing awkward silence Jack led him away from Michaels, into the hallway of the station. Fraiser came hurrying to their side, reaching out to feel Daniel's head. "It's all right, Daniel," she soothed "You can lie down in a few minutes."

The munchkin groaned, but refused to look at her.

"It's just the flight. He'll be okay," Jack told the doc.

She looked at him with her no-kidding-face. "Well, Doctor O'Neill..."

"I'm fine," Daniel croaked and finally raised his head to look at Janet. "My dignity is gone, I almost died of embarrassment, but I'm fine." With that he pushed away from Jack and started walking faster.

Further down the hallway, which was in reality a long corridor, they met the two other scientists that were working on the station. Doctor Osbourne and Doctor Woods. They did the usual greeting thing with everybody calling everybody else by his rank or title. Which was a little ridiculous, hearing them all going like; "Doctor" - "Doctor" - "Major".- '"Doctor" - "Major"- "Doctor"... each Doctor and Major coming with a smile and a head nod.

Jack kept himself from rolling his eyes, when he finally interrupted this stupid game. "Alright, that's enough.  I think we need to get our stuff to our quarters and take a little rest now. "

Doctor Osbourne, a bearded guy with blue eyes, waved them further down the hall. He showed them their quarters, a room with bunk beds. There was one for the women and one for the guys. Michaels had taken Sam and Janet to their room. 

"The bathroom is attached," Osbourne explained, pointing at a door on the back wall of the room.

"Nice," Jack said, throwing his and Daniels bags on one of the beds. 

"I suggest we go right over into the quarantine lab. And you better leave your jackets on. We're keeping the lab below freezing to maintain the specimen," Osbourne told them, when Daniel started to unzip his windcheater.

"Oh, I'd like to use the bathroom first. I, um... my jacket... it's a little... dirty," Daniel mumbled.

Osbourne took an uncomfortable look at the spots on Daniel's jacket. The kid raised his chin defiantly. "It's scrambled eggs and toast."

With that he turned and marched into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

Osbourne frowned. "We’ll meet you in the corridor as soon as you're ready then." He left the room rather quickly. 

Teal'c, who had put his own bag on one of the beds and  opened it, was now setting up candles for later kelnoreming, raised an eyebrow in Jack's direction. 

Jack returned the look with one of his own raised eyebrows, which didn't hold a candle to Teal'c's impressive raised-eyebrow-look of course. "I guess I have to go in there, huh?"

"I am sure DanielJacksonO'Neill's mood will improve once he sees the frozen human," Teal'c assured him. 

Jack followed Daniel into the bathroom. It was the usual camp facility equipped with basics and nothing more. There was a shelf with folded towels and washcloths, all tagged with the US Air force logo.

Daniel was just peeling himself out of both his jackets. He dropped the thick warm jacket on the floor and then held the windcheater under the faucet. He turned the water on and let it flow over the collar and front, angrily rubbing at the spots. He spilled a lot of water over the jacket and himself. Jack watched this, but didn't interfere. Right now it was much better to let the kid work his frustration out on his jacket. 

After he was done, the windjacket looked as if Daniel had been wearing it under the shower. He was wringing the wet jacket out over the sink. 

"You want me to help with that?" Jack asked carefully. 

For a split second the little guy looked like he wa nted to throw a full blown tantrum. But then he handed the dripping jacket over to Jack. "Yes. Please."

"Okay." He wrung it out some more before he hung it up on one of the towel hooks, while Daniel started washing his face and hands, using the soap from the dispenser hanging next to the sink. Jack grabbed one of the towels from the shelf and tossed it over to the kid. 

"Thanks," Daniel muttered and dried himself.

"Put on a dry..."

"I know I'm wet all over. And I know where my shirts are. Will you stop treating me like a baby?" 

Whoa. That was something Jack hadn't heard in a long time. He held up his hands in surrender and stepped back to let Daniel rush out of the room after he had picked up his other jacket  off  the floor.

"Oy," O'Neill sighed at the closed door. "This day's just getting better and better." 

When he returned to the other room, Teal'c had finished setting up his candles and was now re-arranging them. 

Daniel put on a new warm sweater. It was the black one with the white graffiti. Jack had no idea what it said. It looked like something very abstract. It also had a hood and was a little too baggy. Daniel rolled up the sleeves. Jack caught himself staring at him. This shirt made him look much more like a kid and much less like a geek. Yeah. Looked real cool. It seemed so un-Daniel-ish for him to wear these hip clothes. Jack was used to seeing Daniel in plain or plaid. He had even been wearing button-down shirts sometimes  after the downsizing . 

When Jack realized Daniel was glaring back at him, he shrugged and looked over at Teal'c, who had finished preparing his candles. "Are you ready to join MajorCarter and DoctorFraiser in the quarantine lab?" the big guy asked when Daniel was completely dressed again.

"Why don't you go ahead and we’ll join you in a minute. I have to," Jack spun around and searched the room, “find my gloves. Osbourne said it's cold in there."

Teal'c bowed his head and quietly left.

Daniel grabbed the black gloves lying next to him on a table and threw them at Jack, who caught them with one hand.

"Thanks."

"I think I’ll take a nap. I'm tired," Daniel muttered without making a move. "Actually I think I’ll sleep until we go home. You can wake me when the plane comes back." 

"Hey. It's no big deal," Jack told him, trying to stay serious at the plain sight of embarrassment written all over Daniel's face. It wasn't funny. But it looked darn cute. 

Daniel groaned. "I almost threw up over her feet. And you think it's not a big deal?"

"It's the almost part you should pay attention to. Nothing happened. She'll get over it."

"I can't believe I did it," Daniel whined.

"I'm not going to say it wouldn't have happened if you had accepted one of Fraiser's little wonder-pills." 

"Yes. Thanks for not mentioning that."

"You're welcome. Now let's take a look at the yeti."

"She's going to hate me. She'll never take me serious after... that."

Jack said, "Come on, Daniel. Michaels will be stunned and utterly impressed by your skills and knowledge. So put the whining kid into the closet and get out the scientist."

When they left the room they found the others standing at the end of the corridor, waiting for them. Daniel stayed behind Jack and didn't say anything while Michaels was giving them the grand tour o f the base. O'Neill felt the urge to pull the kid out from behind himself. But he could empathize that Daniel was still embarrassed, so he let him be for the moment. He would leave his cover soon enough when they got to the main attraction - the incredible ice block. 

They crossed a room stuffed with computers, books and other research equipment. There was also a sitting area with black sofas and a coffee table. Papers and power point slides were scattered over the desks.

Oh yeah. Daniel was going to love it here.

Michaels didn't seem to be offended anymore. She flashed them a friendly smile as they visited the different areas of the station. "As you can see, we're quite well equipped. Aside from the infirmary and the living area, we have a research lab, observation room, and in here, the quarantine lab," she finished the tour a while later when they entered another room through a sliding door.

In the middle of it, on an examination table, a large block of ice caught their attention. There was something in it and when Jack took a closer look he could make out a human form.

They gathered around the table. Daniel squeezed himself between Jack and Teal'c to get a better look at it. He placed his hands on the ragged surface of the ice and carefully brushed over it. 

After a moment of silence, Michaels said, "I named her Aiyana."

"That's native American Indian. It means eternal bloom," Daniel mumbled absently.

"Mm hmm. My grandfather was one-quarter Cherokee," Michaels nodded.

"And there's no doubt about her age? She is really twenty five to thirty million years old?" Fraiser asked amazed.

"Yes. We have the results of the tissue samples. I bet you're dying to see them," Michaels grinned and pointed over to a huge microscope. 

Immediately Fraiser, Carter and Daniel gathered around it. Fraiser sat down and looked through the lens at the tissue sample. After a moment, she looked up and shook her head. "This is incredible. No adipocere."

O'Neill, who had watched the scene from his spot next to the ice block, went over to the group and looked over Daniel's shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked.

“I don't believe it," Carter breathed. Obviously she was dumbfounded enough to forget to give him the usual over the top explanation. 

O'Neill nudged Daniel's head lightly. "Daniel?"

"Um... adipocere. It's a residue that forms on dead animal tissue when exposed to moisture and Janet says it's nothing like that here," Daniel mumbled.

Janet stood and let him have a look at the specimen. Daniel had to climb up the chair and kneel on it. 

She turned to Jack and explained, "But that's not the most amazing part, sir. These tissue cells are intact."

Daniel let out a low whistle, "Hello... that's impossible. Sam - have a look at this."

He shuffled a bit to make space for her to look through the eyepiece of the microscope.

Doctor Michaels laughed nervously. "Oh, thank god. You know, I was hoping you'd say that. I thought maybe I was losing my mind."

Daniel rubbed his temples. He was still pale, and there were now two red spots on his cheeks. Jack hoped it was just the excitement and not a fever or anything. 

"Janet," Daniel asked. "How... how can that be? Shouldn't that be..."

"Yes. Yes it should," the doc answered puzzled.

"WHAT should?" Jack demanded to know.

Fraiser cleared her throat and explained, "Okay... When you freeze live cells, crystals form and ultimately destroy the integrity of the cell. That's why we haven't been able to develop a viable method of human cryogenic preservation. But …these cells are perfect. They could be from you or me."

*******

After a quick briefing, they decided to start the thawing immediately.

When the overhead heat lamps were set over the block of ice, Daniel climbed one of the high laboratory stools and crossed his arms over his chest, to keep himself from fidgeting.

"I think we should wait in the Observation room," Sam said. "There we can see the monitor that shows the temperature. And we can watch the block from there, too. We'll heat it up to fifty degrees very slowly first." 

"You can rest for a while or eat something, in the meantime," Michaels offered. 

"How long will it take?" Jack wanted to know.

She shrugged. "A couple of hours, or half a day."

Daniel tried to make himself as  small as possible, knowing at the same time it wouldn't work. He started counting to ten and came to five before Jack rubbed his hands together and announced loudly, "I'm hungry. What about you, T?"

"I will have a meal as well. DanielJacksonO'Neill should accompany us," the Jaffa replied.

Jack made a show in wagging his eyebrows and looking at his watch, "Oh, I don't know T. I bet he isn't hungry at all."

"But would it not be better to eat now while there is still time? So he might be back when the thawing process has proceeded enough to show the body?" Teal'c wanted to know.

"Yeah, well, that's up to Daniel. But you're right," Jack drawled. "Then again sitting and watching the ice turn into water sounds like a lot of fun."

Daniel caught his lower lip between his teeth to prevent it from sticking out. He wasn't going to pout. He wasn't going to let them know that sitting and watching the ice turn into water was indeed something he would rather do than leave and eat. Or tak e a nap. He knew he was going to have a nap. Jack would cajole him into taking one later.

Oh, well... He didn't want to miss anything here. But he could see Teal'c's point. Nothing was going to happen in the next few hours. "I'm hungry, too," he decided and hopped from the stool.

Doctor Woods offered them to use the station kitchen. With a last longing look at the ice block, Daniel followed the others to the Research lab. Woods took them in another room that appeared to be a kitchen with an attached large pantry and a freezer.

"Everything you want is in the pantry. Feel free to cook something. We already have eaten, so the kitchen is all yours," the doctor told them and hurried back to the quarantine lab. 

Daniel grimaced. How was he supposed to wait all that time until the ice was finally thawed? Maybe taking a nap wasn't such a bad idea. Jack would wake him when the ice had melted enough so they could take more samples. Then again he was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

Jack's voice got him out of his thoughts. "How about some cooking? Daniel? Wanna indulge us with your special pasta sauce?"

Great. Two rooms away the most amazing incredible discovery in human history was thawing and he was cooking pasta sauce. "Sure, why not. Do they have onions and garlic?"

"Well, no fresh ones, but in powder form or dried and pressed. Which is better anyway, since I don't want you to loose a finger while chopping veggies," Jack explained after rummaging through several cupboards.

"Will do. Um, Jack... is there any pasta to go with the sauce?"

"Yeahsureyabetcha," Jack quipped and vanished into the pantry.

"How do you know that, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"There's no military facility without pasta, rice and Aunt Jemima's pancake mix," Jack called back. A moment later he appeared, holding a package of spaghetti in his hands and a big can of strained tomatoes. 

"Eh, bambino - Cuciniamo alcuni Spaghetti," he said in his best Italian accent.

"Non potete parlare italiano, Jack," Daniel countered, grinning.

Jack shrugged. "Tiramisu per il dessert? Gelatto choccolata? Carabonara... Pizzeria?"

Daniel was giggling while he searched for a pot. He allowed himself to get distracted. It was a good way to make the time go by faster. He found the cupboard with the pots and chose a small one for the sauce. Jack took a larger pot for the pasta. 

"I am not familiar with this language," Teal'c said curious.

"It's Italian. Jack asked me if we want to cook some Spaghetti and I told him he couldn't speak Italian at all. Then he asked if we wanted to have Tiramisu for dessert... and then he was just talking silly," Daniel explained.

"What is Tiramisu?"

"Oh, it's something with eggs, alcohol..." Jack started.

"No, Jack. That's eggnog. Tiramisu is an Italian dessert with biscuit, Mascapone cheese and cocoa powder.  And lots of coffee. " Daniel  explained.

"That sounds very delicious. Are you capable of preparing that dessert, DanielJacksonO'Neill?"

"Um, I would, yes. I don't cook much anymore since... just helping Jack from time to time now," he said, trying not to feel sad about it. It was better this way. He used to like cooking, real cooking. Not just making pasta sauce or handing Jack the things he needed. Or reading cook-book instructions to his friend. Well, at least Jack had learned something in the cooking business over the last year, since Daniel refused to live from take out food or BBQ all the time. 

Also, while Jack made the world's best pancake and most variations of pasta, Daniel had been the gourmet in the house. He had liked trying new recipes, even off world meals - if he could get the things matching the alien ingredients. He hadn't been a housewife and he wouldn't call the kitchen his domain. But working in a kitchen had always given him the feeling of doing something normal in a life that was full of craziness and danger. They used to deal with so many outrageous unbelievable and life threatening situations out there. When he had been home or at Jack's place, the simple act of cooking had always grounded him and given him back some peace. 

Daniel took the pot he found and placed it on the stove. Jack's voice came from behind. "Be careful with the stove, buddy."

"Yes, Jack.”

“Just saying.”

He was fine working at the stove. Jack was just over protective as usual. 

Jack also had huge issues with letting Daniel cut vegetables or other things that required a sharp knife to work with. And as frustrating as it was, Daniel had problems using them properly. While he theoretically knew how to use and handle knives carefully, his small hands didn't seem to be able to work with them the way they could before. Sometimes the blade would slip from the things he wanted to chop or cut, like apples or onions. Holding on to juicy fruits with one hand and cutting it with the knife wasn't that easy anymore. 

He remembered a day when he had lost his patience and had thrown a potato across the kitchen because he just couldn't do it right. That wicked little thing had slipped from his hand all the time and he hadn't been able to peel it, not even with the potato peeler. He'd thrown the potato peeler, too, only missing Jack – who had chosen that exact moment to enter the kitchen – by inches. It had been one of those days...

"I would like to try this Tiramisu one day," Teal'c told him.

"I could show you how to do it," Daniel said absently while he was putting the canned tomatoes in the pot. Can openers were a little tricky, too, but usually he could handle them. 

"Can I be of any assistance, DanielJacksonO'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes, thanks. Put the Spaghetti into the water when it starts boiling," Daniel instructed him as he stirred the pressed dried onions and the garlic powder into the sauce and added salt and pepper and other spices. 

Jack went into the pantry again to search for Parmesan cheese. When he returned a moment later, he was holding four oranges in his hands. "How about some fresh orange juice?"

"Do they have a juice squeezer?" Daniel wanted to know.

"I will watch the food while you can look for such a thing," Teal'c offered. He had just finished putting the spaghetti into the boiling water.

Jack started juggl ing the oranges, keeping a safe distance from the stove. Daniel watched him. It really didn't look very difficult to learn. He suddenly remembered he had packed his yo-yo from Cairo. Maybe Jack could show him a few new tricks later. 

"Juggling is a great skill to learn how to balance," Teal'c's deep voice broke into his thoughts.

"And to concentrate. Yes, I know," Daniel sighed.

"That is true. You still need to practice your concentration. Your mind is wandering. In battle you need to focus. You need to be able to control your body. To react fast and efficiently you must be able to concentrate."

"I know that, Teal'c. But I'm not Jaffa. I'm not a ninja kid either," he replied somewhat sullenly. 

One of Jack's oranges fell down and rolled out of the kitchen. He caught the other three and placed them on the table, before he went after the "runaway". 

The giant warrior turned to stir the spaghetti. His deep voice never changed its gentle tone when he said, "I am not dispraising you, young friend. You are doing very well. But doing well and giving your best are two different things. Did you not always attempt to give your best and even more when you were going on missions? Are you not still trying to do your work as  a translator as efficiently as possible?"

"I was never much of a warrior, Teal'c. It's different," Daniel said. 

"You can learn. You have already made much progress. But you can still learn more. You never stop achieving and gain new knowledge. Your body is flexible and fast. It is small, but not incapable - and it is growing," Teal'c answered. 

"It's not important anymore. It won't last. I will be back - fully functional," Daniel said and started search ing for a juice squeezer. 

"Many things can happen in two years, DanielJacksonO'Neill."

"I won't go into any battles. When I figure out what I apparently know about the Anubis attack, others will fight the battle for me. I'm just the instruction manual. Nothing more. Once this is all over..." Daniel didn't end the sentence. It wasn't the first time they had this conversation and it wouldn't be the last. 

He was trying. He really was. But it never seemed to be enough. He couldn't be as good in the martial arts lessons as he wanted to. He still couldn't kelno'reem or meditate properly. He had learned to live with the fact that he was too small, and that his concentration level wasn't as high as it once had been. But aside from that, he just wasn't a warrior like Teal'c or his son. He never had been. 

He had gone through all the necessary trainings when he had joined SG-1. Jack had insisted on it and he had done well enough after a while. Surviving out there was excellent motivation.

But now that he was little, he wasn't in control of his body like he had been. He couldn't maintain the self discipline or the heart of a warrior. He didn't have the will or ability for it anymore. His main motivation for doing this with Teal'c had been to get back to gate traveling before he reached the legal age. He didn't want to wait all hose years until he was a real man again. He had wanted to be prepared. To go back into the field as soon as he was able to. Not in ten or fifteen years. 

Now that wasn't necessary anymore. Two years. He could live with not going off world for two more years. Once he had regained his adulthood he would get back on SG-1 and all his physical problems would be solved. 

"When the time comes where you will participate in the battle against Anubis, you might need the skills you gained," Teal'c told him.

"Why? I can tell Jackson everything he needs to know and then he can go with SG-1. Isn't that what he wants to do anyway? He said he wants to "help" when Anubis attacks," Daniel said in a far more aggressive manner than he wanted to. He slammed a cupboard door shut. "There is no juice squeezer here."

"If that is so, why do you still take training lessons from me?" the Jaffa asked calmly, not reacting to Daniel's growing tension

Before he could answer that, Jack returned with the orange he had lost. "Something smells good," he said loudly and came over to peer into the pot with the sauce. "Mmmh... nice."

Teal'c had stirred it and he had also watched the pasta while Daniel had been busy getting his emotions back under control. He knew why he was still working out with Teal'c. Because it was his way to get rid of tension and anxiety. Working out was a better way than picking fights with Jack or throwing things against a wall. It was a safe way to release his anger. Maybe it worked even better for him than all the role plays or mood diaries or whatever Doc Svenson tried to help him with. 

The Jaffa got a colander from a shelf and poured the hot pasta into it over the sink.

Jack started looking for plates, spoons and forks. "I was over at the lab," he told Daniel. "Nothing to see yet. Fraiser and Carter are monitoring the heat. That's all." 

"I guess you want me to take a nap after lunch," Daniel assumed. He brought pot coasters over to the table.

"Are you tired?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Jack placed the plates next to the coasters and got glasses too. When he put them on the table, he said, "How about we take our lunch to the observation room, so you can see for yourself how it goes. I bet that's fine with Carter and Fraiser, too. After we're finished I'll pull rank on all of you and send you to get some rest. Michaels and Osbourne can watch the yeti-lady without our help for a while."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "You are aware of the fact I know this is just your way of manipulating me so I won't feel excluded, right? I mean, just for the record... I'm well aware I need more sleep than all of you." 

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Sure. Does it work?"

Daniel had to smile. He couldn't help it. "Yes. And you know it."

Jack grabbed the glasses and flatware. "Sweet. Take the plates. Teal'c can handle the food."

When they carried everything over into the observation room, Daniel felt a little tired. But he also felt good. It was nice to be back on a mission with SG-1. He had really missed this. 

*******

Later, Jack settled into a chair next to Doctor Michaels, who was watching the heat monitor. The ice was still melting and a puddle of water had appeared  in the tub  under the table.

Carter, who had just come back from two hours of sleep that had obviously done her good, frowned at the still mostly frozen form. "Maybe we can heat it up a little more? What do you think, Francine?"

Michaels sighed, impatience all over her face. "I wouldn't. We might damage her if we thaw her too fast."

Fraiser gave a snort. "We are worse than Daniel. He is still sleeping like an angel. It's the best he can do. Time won't run any faster."

"Just don't forget to tell me when I have to wake him. If he's missing anything here, he's going to kill me," Jack muttered. He had slept an hour as well and felt much more awake now. 

"We don't want to risk that, Colonel," Fraiser teased mildly.

Carter chuckled at that and made herself comfortable in another chair.

Taking her eyes away from the monitor for a moment, Francine Michaels looked at Jack questioningly. "Can I ask you a question, Colonel O'Neill?" 

"Daniel is here because he's an expert in anthropology and archeology. And I can't give you details, because it's classified," Jack answered before hearing the question. He didn't need to. It was written all over her face.

"But... he's a... how old is he?" Francine asked, puzzled.

"Eight. But don't let that fool you for a second. He's damn good  at what he does."

"Is it true that he is related to Doctor Jackson?"

"He's his nephew," Fraiser answered.

Michaels frowned. "It's too bad that Doctor Jackson isn't here. I admire his work. His nephew..."

"Is very familiar with his uncle's work. If you have any questions, just ask him," Carter threw in with a little smile on her face. "Oh, and don't pat his head or talk down to him. He really doesn't like that very much. Just treat him like one of us and you'll get along just great." 

"Really?"

"Yes," three voices answered Michaels in unison. 

Another hour went by and the puddle of water  in the tub  under the examination table had grown. Jack went into the bunk room to wake Daniel. When he entered, Teal'c had just ended kelno'reem and was in the bathroom. Daniel was already up and dressed and in the process of blowing out Teal'c's candles.

"I think you should come and join the show now, " he told the kid with a smirk.

"Ya think?" Daniel smirked back.

"Yep. Michaels and Fraiser already got their little tools and surgical masks out. Playtime."

"Okay, I better join them then," Daniel said, acting casual. But he wasn't fooling Jack for a second. His eyes lit up and a second later he was zipping out of the room like a rocket.

O'Neill was about to follow him, when Teal'c called him from the open bathroom door. "Did you discuss the issues DanielJacksonO'Neill has  about DanielJackson?"

Jack, who hadn't expected this question, stopped in the doorway and let out a huff of air. "Yaah...uh, not in so much detail, maybe. Why?" 

"I believe Daniel feels very insecure since his future self arrived in our time," Teal'c said.

O'Neill slowly turned and walked back into the room. "I know that."

"Are you not going to help him get past these issues?"

"Sure. It's just... not so... easy."

Jack waited for an answer. But the big guy just looked at him with an unreadable expression in those deep dark eyes. O'Neill couldn't hold the eye contact for long. "I'll go and see how the thawing goes," he muttered and left.

When Jack entered the observation room, Carter was sitting next to the monitor. "Sir," she greeted him. "Daniel wanted to go in there and I thought it's okay. I hope you're not..."

"Nope. It's okay. She's dead, right? So there's no danger coming from her."

"Well, not that we know of. And Doctor Michaels and Janet are in there with him," she said.

O'Neill gazed through the window where the two female doctors and his littlest archeologist stood around the now half melted ice block. 

He stomped down the unease and the urge to get Daniel away from her. The kid was right. He was paranoid. This was nothing more than an amazingly well preserved dead body o f some prehistoric girl. But the well preserved part was nagging at Jack. They had found people who were  _supposed to be dead_ before

He sat down  beside Carter and listened to Michaels's voice. She was wearing a headset with a microphone. Daniel was standing on toe tips, looking at the exposed right hand and arm. He looked like he wanted to touch her, but wasn't sure if he should. He and Fraiser wore headsets, too.

".... partial head exposed. The clothing appears tailored. Material unknown," Michaels reported.

"I want a sample of the clothing, please. I'd like to see what it is. If it's from Earth or not," Daniel said. 

"Sure. We have the equipment here if you want to analyze it," Michaels told him. Jack had to give her credit. She seemed to be over her issues of having to work with a genius child pretty fast.

"Peeling back what appears to be the right sleeve covering the face." Janet continued, removing an old looking cloth that covered the head, with large tweezers. Underneath there was a perfectly preserved female face, still partially frozen into the ice. 

Daniel's head shot up and met Jack's gaze through the glass. "It's very unusual. But we expected that. The cells were undamaged. It's amazing - but it's not dangerous."

"Carter," he snapped. "Any chance, she's a snake?"

" No, sir, not  if she is really that old. But even if she is, I doubt that even a Goa'uld would survive being frozen several million years." She shook her head, staring down into the lab with amazement.

O'Neill felt his jaw clench. But he didn't call him out. Yet.

Daniel took a step away from the ice to give Fraiser and Michaels space to work. The doc had given him a piece of the clothing and he very carefully took it from her with smaller tweezers and placed it in a petri dish.

**   
**

 

Michaels folded the rotten cloth away from the face completely. Fraiser let her penlight shine into one of the woman's eyes.

 

Daniel was now standing next to her again. "Janet..."

 

"Yes, Daniel, I know. It's not possible," she answered absently and held up the penlight again.

 

"There. Again," Daniel breathed.

 

Jack craned his neck to see what was going on, but they were all standing around the head, blocking the view. 

 

"What's going on, Carter?"

 

"I'm not sure, sir."

 

Janet flicked the light off and spun around to look at them through the window. "I got a cortical response. Sam, I need your help!"

 

Michaels and Daniel rolled several medical machines and other equipment over to the table. Carter got a pair of gloves and a surgical mask from a cubicle with medical equipment and left. Jack grabbed gloves and mask for himself and followed on her heels. He wasn't a doctor, but even he knew what a cortical response was. And even a body that was incredibly preserved shouldn't do that. Because it was dead and dead people didn't have brain activity.

 

"Tell Daniel to get out of there," he ordered before she entered the lab. 

 

"Sir..."

 

"He can watch from here."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

She entered the lab and started talking to Daniel, who crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. 

 

Fraiser prepared the ice woman for the EEG. She placed collector electrodes on her woman's temples.

 

Carter tried to convince Daniel to leave. Naturally he didn't think that was necessary. Cursing, Jack put on his own mask and gloves and burst into the quarantine lab. Nobody paid attention to him. They were all around the ice block, or what was left of it. 

 

Michaels gave Carter a nod and told her to switch on the EEG. Daniel stared at the monitor. One of the lines there started flicker ing and show ing the zigzag movement that indicated some sort of brain activity.

 

"Delta waves," Carter said. 

 

Francine shook her head. "That's impossible."

 

"Oh. We've seen stranger things," Daniel piped up, ignoring Jack who was standing behind him now, both hands on his shoulders. 

 

Michaels shot him a puzzled look, but then brought her attention back to the frozen woman. 

 

Janet watched the EEG for a moment and then ordered resolutely, "We've gotta get her out."

 

Carter looked over at Teal'c and the other two scientists who had entered the observation room and called out to them, to turn up the heat. Osbourne gave a nod and a moment later the heaters over the ice were glowing more intensely.

 

"We have to wait until the ice is melted enough so we can get her out," Fraiser said. "I'll stay and monitor her EEG. I suggest you wait in the observation room. There's no need for all of us to stay in here. I have to admit the waiting is the worst part of this."

 

"Can I stay, too?" Daniel asked, looking at the doc for support.

 

Well, that wasn't going to happen. Jack turned him towards the door. "Not until we know with what we're dealing here." 

 

"She's not dangerous, Jack," Daniel insisted. 

 

"And you know that - how exactly?"

 

"I just know."

 

"Right. You can watch from the observation room."

 

"Jack, let me..."

 

"Not yet."

 

"Just..."

 

Jack bent down to him, his voice low but carrying a warning. "Don't push it, Daniel. Move."

 

"Fine," Daniel sniped and walked out of the lab, chin defiantly set and his head high. 

 

Instead of going into the observation room to join the others, he crossed the research area and slammed the door shut behind himself. Jack cringed a little at the sound. He was trying to decide if he should let him be for the moment or go after him, when Carter's voice came from behind him. "Where's he going, sir?" 

 

She had put off the surgical mask and gloves. Slowly he did the same and then turned to face her. "Sulking."

 

"Oh. Well there was no immediate danger. You could have let him stay. I think."

 

"Carter! There was brain activity."

 

"She's still unconscious," Carter objected.

 

"Brain activity in a brain that's supposed to have been dead for who knows how many million years," Jack insisted. "Even I know that's not normal."

 

She gave him a small smile. "No, sir, it isn't."

 

"We both know how it works, right? One minute it's just a harmless  dead body and - surprise - the next moment there's brain activity - and the moment after that a snake zips out of her mouth and attacks Daniel."

 

"Sir... "

 

"Ah! There's an invisible sign on the kid's head that says WHUMP ME. I'm not taking any chances! As long as you or Fraiser aren't sure what she is, I'm not letting him in again, period." He gave her a hard look. “You're not letting him in there against my orders, understood?” 

 

“No, sir.” 

 

“I'm willing to let him play, but only if it's safe.”

 

“Yes, sir. I know.” 

 

He walked into the observation room. Osbourne and Woods were speculating over the chances that the ice woman would be alive and without any brain damage. Teal'c was watching the heat controls. 

 

"How long?" Jack asked Carter, knowing she was right behind him.

 

" Thirty minutes, maybe fourty ."

 

"Okay. And then what? You trying to reanimate her?"

 

"Um, yes. We've no idea of knowing if she's even responding. She might die after the thawing is completed. Maybe her body will go into shock and her heart will stop once she is heated up. Nobody can tell."

 

"I want you to make sure there's no snake in there, Carter," Jack told her sharply.

 

"Of course. Janet should be able to determine that as soon as the EEG is completed."

 

"Good. I'll better go and have a little chat with Daniel."

 

The kid was lying on his top bunk bed, facing the wall, when Jack found him. He closed the door behind himself and walked over to the bed. "Hey," he tried casual l y. 

 

There was no response.

 

Jack placed his forearms on the mattress and rested his chin on them, watching Daniel's back for a moment. "Are you coming to watch how they wake up sleeping beauty?"

 

"Nothing's changed," Daniel said, his voice thick with something that sounded like suppressed sobs. "You're still not trusting me."

 

"You're right. Nothing's changed. You still don't get that I do trust you. It's the ice lady I don't trust. Or anybody else who might put you in danger," Jack answered, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

 

"This is going nowhere," Daniel said bitterly and turned around. He had the rotten monkey in his arms. 

 

"No. It isn't."

 

"It is always the same damn thing."

 

"Yes. It is."

 

They glared at each other. Jack took a step away from the bed. "So. You're coming?"

 

"Yes."

 

Daniel put Amab aside, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and slipped down. 

 

"You're not going into the lab without my permission, Daniel." 

 

Daniel didn't answer. He just walked out of the room.

 

"Hey! That's an order, you hear me," Jack yelled after him.

 

Not that he expected an answer.

 

There weren't many people Colonel Jack O'Neill knew, who had the guts to not only backtalk him on every opportunity, but also ignore his orders from time to time. Daniel was one of the very few who did both, always had been. Come to think about it, Daniel was the only one who did it permanently and got away with it more often than not. 

 

Big or little, it didn't matter. Daniel Jackson was one stubborn son of a bitch. 

 

"Oh, here we go again..." Jack muttered as he followed the Wretch down the hall.

 

This was supposed to be an easy trip. Thawing an ice block, letting the kid have some fun with the frozen lady... Yes, he  had  wanted Daniel with him because of his expertise on those ancient things and because he knew this discovery was something Daniel had to see. Since this wasn't an off world trip Jack  had seen  it as an opportunity to take the kid with him on what looked like a cold, but harmless mission.

 

Hell, he missed Daniel being on the team. He had thought taking him with them would be a safe way to show him that he was still Daniel Jackson, and still part of SG-1. That the other one didn't have to be a threat to him. That Daniel didn't have to compete with his adult self for his position at the SGC. Jack had been proud of his idea. He had thought it might solve more than all the talking in the world. 

 

Now, as usual, things had turned out to be not simple, safe or easy.

 

So even though they had both come a long way and managed to be better on so many things; here they were right back at square one. Jack wanted to listen to him and wanted to be able to get over the fact Daniel was little. Because Daniel was still Daniel.

 

But he couldn't. 

 

He was still worrying his head off. Because Daniel  _was_ little. To know he was physically eight made a hell of a difference, still, and Jack realized that Daniel could do nothing to convince him otherwise. Even though he had stood his ground in Egypt. Even though he had been right about Reese, somehow. 

 

He knew how much courage the kid had and what he was capable of.

 

Yet, his feelings and instincts were constantly working against him when it came to treating Daniel like a valid member of his team in potential dangerous situations. He could deny it all he wanted. But he had become a father again and that part of him wasn't always able to look beyond the little boy Daniel was now. He wanted to protect and to keep him away from trouble. 

 

He didn't want to constrain Daniel. He was trying to suppress the need to do it, in situations where he knew he had to let Daniel loose and handle things his own way. But he would always fall back into this paternal pattern when it came down to it. 

 

Jack couldn't jump over his shadow. Neither could Daniel.

 

Daniel, who saw the outstanding discovery from the view of his scientific mind. Didn't give a damn about whether it was safe or not and just wanted to be involved in the examination. Because it was part of his work and Daniel's work was his life. It had always been that way. 

 

Yep, here they were again. Both pig headed and both not willing to yield an inch. 

 

Maybe his great idea wasn't so great after all.

 

Oh, and maybe he was really fussing over nothing.

 

When Jack got back to the observation room he half expected Daniel to be in the lab. But the Wretch was sitting in one of the chairs, bent forward, his hands on his knees. He was totally engrossed in what was going on in the lab and didn't even look up when Jack placed himself next to him.

 

Teal'c was down there now to help. They were all wearing headsets again, so Woods, Osbourne and Daniel could hear them report every step they took. The ice had revealed what appeared to be a young woman, dressed in a greenish dress and a hat of the same color. Her eyes were open, but she was still unconscious. 

 

Fraiser nodded in Teal'c direction. "On three. When you're ready, Teal'c."

 

Teal'c bowed his head.

 

"Okay. One, two, three." They moved the body from what was left of the ice on to a gurney. On the Doc's instructions Carter moved the heat lamp over the woman's body. Michaels checked the woman's temperature with an ear thermometer. "Temperature is 73 degrees."

 

"That's good," Fraiser replied. She cut away the green dress with a large scissor and looked at the body, mumbling, "No sign of frostbite.... Okay, let's try, uh, warm saline, one milligram epi, and do a blood gas. Also an EKG."

 

She prepared the EKG and placed the electrodes on the woman’s chest. After a moment, she said. "Okay, we've got disorganized electrical activity. I'm intubating. Tilt her head, Sam."

 

"Look at this..." Osbourne breathed and nudged Woods with his elbow. 

 

Woods shook his head in amazement.

 

Jack watched Fraiser insert the respiration tube into the woman’s throat. 

 

"We have a heartbeat," Michaels reported.

 

"She's alive," Daniel breathed. 

 

Then Teal'c's voice was to be heard. "DoctorFraiser, the woman is bleeding from a small wound on her arm."

 

Fraiser, who was still massaging the bag of the intubator, asked Michaels to bandage the wound. The other doctor nodded and put an aid on. 

 

Suddenly the doc froze, then yelled, "She's in V-fib! Sam, set up defibrillator and charge to 200! Quick!"

 

Jack could see Daniel's small hands ball into fists. "Oh no, come on, come on," he whispered. Jack patted his shoulder, but the kid didn't even notice. Then, just when Fraiser was about to shock her, Carter told them the heartbeat stabilized again. 

 

Suddenly Fraiser's head jerked up and she looked at them. "She's conscious! She's breathing on her own! I'm removing the oxygen mask."

 

Daniel jumped from his seat and zipped out the door before Jack could move a muscle. But he caught up with him and took hold of his jacket's collar before he could enter the lab. ”Where do you think you're going?”

 

“I need...”

 

Jack let go of the kid's collar, but put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “You are NOT going in there."

"No no - let me go! She'll be scared! Look at her face! She's afraid," Daniel shouted, trying to twist away and out of Jack's grip.

They watched through the glass door as the woman started hyperventilat ing , her eyes bulging as they assessed the room. The tube was still in her mouth.

Jack didn't let go of Daniel. "Stop it!" 

"She's aware! She's not only conscious, she's responding to her surroundings! Jack! Let me go!"

Fraiser and Carter were talking to her, obviously trying to calm her so the tube could be removed. Michaels had started to rub the woman's legs to comfort her and get blood circulation running. Very carefully Fraiser removed the tube. The woman seemed to cough several times and then took deep gulping breaths. Teal'c and Carter had their hands loosely on her arms to prevent her from panicking and falling o f f the gurney. 

Jack wrapped one arm around a wriggling struggling Daniel, holding him close. He was about to start yelling at him, when suddenly the kid stopped and let out an, "Oh my god."

"What?"

"Look... She must be convulsing or something... she's panicking."

They couldn't hear what was going on from this side of the door, but the woman started to cramp and struggle on the gurney. Fraiser injected something into the IV line, while Carter, Michaels and Teal'c held the woman down. 

A moment later she seemed to calm down. She was lying still on the gurney. Fraiser patted her face and Carter held her hand. 

Jack, who was still holding Daniel with one arm, muttered, "Well, I'll be damned."

"She just woke up like from a coma. This is…" Daniel stopped and tipped his head back to look up to Jack. Suddenly his eyes grew big. "You think she's a Goa'uld."

"She might be," Jack countered defensively.

"I don't think so."

"You don't KNOW so."

"We established she has to be far older than that. So she can't be a Goa'uld," Daniel explained.

"Yeah. And yet - she's breathing and conscious. Any idea how this might be possible without a snake in her head?"

"I don't know, but..."

"And as long as we don't know, you're staying in the observation room."

"Can you stop squashing me, please," Daniel said annoyed and started wriggl ing again.

Jack loosened his grip around the kid, but didn't let go. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Thank you. Can you now let me go - please?"

"Depends on where you want to go."

Daniel sent a desperate look to the ceiling. "The observation room. Waiting for Sam's and Janet's report. If she is not a Goa'uld, I'd like to talk to her. Please? You can accompany me and do your protective thing."

"If she's not a Goa'uld and if there's no other problem with her - I'll think about it," O'Neill said wearily and let Daniel go, ready to snatch him up again, should he take the wrong direction.

They started walking over to the observation room. 

"What other problem could there be, Jack?"

"How should I know? She's twenty five million years old - and breathing. You don’t think that's odd? I do."

"Maybe there are nanobots in her blood. That would explain a lot. But it wouldn't be automatically dangerous to me," Daniel argued.

"Unless she's a living bomb. Like Cassandra."

"Jack, stop it. She's not a living bomb. She might be some advanced human being. We will know more when the test results are ready. If you let me in there I could tell you more, soon," Daniel said in a reasonable voice. He sounded like he was talking to some thickheaded kid now.

"Nice try, Wretch. You just have to wait like the rest of us," Jack growled as they entered the observation room.

 

 


	3. Frozen III

**V**

Daniel slumped into a chair and watched what was going on in the lab. Aiyana was asleep now. Janet drew blood samples and ran tests. 

Aiyana.

Daniel liked the name. 

He wondered what her real name was and if she remembered it.

He glanced over at Jack's tall lean figure. He stood by the window, hands stuffed into the pocket of his fleece jacket. He, too, watched the progress of the tests, his face giving away nothing of what he was thinking. 

But Daniel knew. 

Jack was worried.

He was aware Jack's fears and worries weren't really paranoid. There was a chance, if slim, Aiyana might be a Goa'uld. Or some other dangerous life form. He knew that the fact she looked like a beautiful young woman, didn't mean anything.

Though he would also deny it flatly to himself, Daniel was aware of his physical age and size. He had had a year to get used to it and to finally accept this handicap. He needed Jack to watch his six. So he understood Jack's concern. But it did annoy him still. 

And Jackson had practically ordered him to talk to her. Daniel was sure that he had meant Aiyana. It made perfect sense. 

When Janet and Sam joined them a while later, Jack immediately demanded a report. 

Janet took off her surgical mask and gloves. Rubbing a hand through her auburn hair, she said, "We didn't do anything, sir. She revived herself. It was as if the thawing process just triggered an internal response telling her body to come back to life."

"But not a snakehead, right?" Jack wanted to know, eyebrows raised.

"No, sir," Janet assured him 

Daniel let out a breath of relief. He'd been sure she wasn't a Goa'uld. But he hadn't really known. He exchanged a look with Jack, but there was no concession in the brown eyes yet. 

Jack turned back to Fraiser. "All right. Then what are we dealin' with here?"

"Something not humanly possible. Not as far as I know," she answered and nodded thanks at Sam, who was bringing in cups of coffee.

Teal'c watched the sleeping form on the gurney. "Then she may indeed be not of this world," he wondered.

Sam sipped her own coffee and handed another one to Daniel, who peered into it. Lots of cream. But still. Coffee. He glanced at Janet, who seemed not to notice or not to care, since she was already busy checking the EEG results.

Sam said, "As far as we knew up until now, all human life in the galaxy was transplanted to other planets from Earth by the Goa'uld. Now, the odds of a totally alien life form evolving to look exactly like us are…are astronomical."

"It's the other way around," Daniel chimed in. "If she's as old as we think she is, we are the ones who look like her - not the other way around."

"True," Sam frowned.

Doctor Woods got up from his seat and turned to Osbourne. "We really need to check out the site again. At least get another core sample to prove the age of the ice."

"Yes, we should go right away. As long as there's still light out there," Osbourne agreed and grabbed his jacket. With a last wave he left with Woods on his heels.

When the two scientist were gone, Daniel turned to Jack. "So?" he asked, trying not to look too desperate.

Jack gave him a blank stare. "So?" 

"She is not a Goa'uld."

"I noticed that."

"Aaannd?"

"Let's wait what the blood stuff says. She's asleep now anyway."

"What if she wakes up?"

"Daniel..." Jack came over and sat down next to him. “Look...”

"She might get frightened again."

"What makes you so sure you can talk to her, DanielJacksonO'Neill," Teal'c deep voice cut through the bickering. Both, Daniel and Jack, turned to look at him.

"There's a point," Jack bitched. "Want to answer that, Danny-boy?"

Daniel took a deep breath. "I have no idea," he said slowly. "I have a... a hunch."

"A hunch, as in... you just know?" Jack frowned.

"Yeah."

"Oh, for crying out loud..." 

Michaels popped her head through the open door and informed them Aiyana was awake again. She looked a little uncomfortable. "I tried talk ing to her, but... she's not responding."

Daniel pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I can talk to her."

Michaels stared at him in disbelief. "You? I mean, no offense, but... maybe she doesn't even speak English."

"I'm aware of that. I can try a few other languages. I also think she might not be afraid of me, like she is of you. I'm little. I'm no threat to her. I mean, she's restrained anyway. But I'm not even sure we need the restraints."

Francine looked puzzled. But Daniel didn't feel like explaining anything to her right now. He got up from his chair and looked at Jack. Daniel wasn't good at begging. He never had been. But when his eyes locked on Jack's he asked for permission, without uttering a word. 

Jack grimaced. "I'm coming with."

"Okay."

"Put headsets on so I know what's going on in there. I'll come in if she needs medical treatment again. I want to do some more tests and take her blood pressure. But right now I think I better not scare her. Try to offer her something to drink. Water. We can try food later," Janet told them while she handed two surgical masks and gloves to Daniel.

After the door had closed behind them, Jack's hand closed around Daniel's shoulder and he was stopped. "You know all of this sounds very familiar. You had the same reasons when you wanted to talk to Reese," Jack said and turned him around so they were facing each other.

"Yes. I know."

"And you know that while you might be no threat to her, you might be an easy target, right? Restrained or not - we don't know how strong she is. I'm armed, Daniel. And if she attacks us, I'll shoot her."

Daniel swallowed down the urge to protest. "I know. But I'm sure that won't be necessary." 

"I don't want you to end up with a smashed brain again," Jack said gently, cupping his face with both hands now.

"I know. I'll be careful," he whispered.

"I'm in there to watch your six. But you have to listen to me, when I tell you to leave," Jack demanded, keeping his voice low but urgent. 

"Okay." 

"You know I'll carry you out of there if I have to. But I'd rather have you work with me here."

Daniel blinked, unable to resist the concern and love he could see in Jack's eyes. "I will."

Jack's expression changed into a lopsided grin. "Good enough."

They both put on the gloves and surgical masks and then Daniel opened the glass door and entered the quarantine lab with Jack right behind him.

Aiyana moved her head when Daniel and Jack came into the lab. Her eyes were of an incredible green, even though they were clouded by the Valium Janet had given her. She looked drowsy and a little disoriented. She was wearing green medical scrubs. Her arms were restrained at her sides. Her eyes kept wandering through the room, anxiously, never resting long on one spot. Even the Valium didn't seem to calm her completely.

Daniel took a step towards her gurney and softly approached her. "Hey." 

The green eyes tried to focus on him, then drifted away again, taking in the room, the equipment, the window to the observations room. Then her face turned and for the first time, she looked at him. Daniel felt his heart beat loudly in his chest. He licked his dry lips.

“I, um...am Daniel," he said.

Aiyana  flinched , her eyes huge. 

Daniel lowered his surgical mask a little. He then turned and looked over to Janet. "Can we take the masks off?"

The Doctor nodded in agreement. When Jack didn't say anything either, he took the mask off and carefully laid his hands on the gurney next to Aiyana’s arm.

"Daniel," he tried again. When she didn't react, he tapped his own chest. "That's me - Daniel. I'm Daniel. Don't be afraid." He turned and pointed at Jack, who now removed his surgical mask as well and offered her a little smile. "That's Jack." 

Aiyana looked at her restrained arms and then back at Daniel, no indication on her face that she had understood him. But her eyes were very much alive and she started looking back and forth between him and Jack.

"Jack," Daniel said, "we don't... do you think we need these restrains?"

"Let's just... not push it, okay?" Jack said uneasy. But his resistance wasn't as strong as Daniel had expected it. So he decided to ask again, later. 

"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you," Daniel told Aiyana, still not sure if she understood anything of what he said. But her eyes stayed focused on him now. 

Carefully he reached out a hand and placed it on her chest. She didn't flinch and her breathing stayed even and calm. "Name," he asked. "Your... name?" He pointed at himself again. "Daniel." Then at Jack. "Jack."

Aiyana's eyes wandered over to Jack, who had come closer and stood by her feet now.

Daniel pointed to his mouth and asked, "Um, oookay... do you speak? Talk?" On a sudden intuition, he tried, "Eloquor? loquor?"

Aiyana's green eyes widened and she tried to raise her right arm, which wasn't possible because of the restrains. Daniel took her hand in his and repeated, "Eloquor? Speaking?"

When she opened her mouth, there was nothing more than a whisper coming out. "E..." she started. The tip of her tongue came to moisten the curved pink lips "E..."

Suddenly a glass of water appeared next to Daniel and when he looked up, Jack stood there, holding it out to him. 

"Thank you." Daniel took the glass with both hands and held it out to Aiyana, who opened her mouth a little, apparently understanding what she was supposed to do.

"Wait... easy... okay," Jack mumbled and placed one hand under her head. Aiyana rolled her eyes backwards to look up at him. Jack gave her a strained smile and rubbed her shoulder a little. Then he carefully helped her to raise her head again while Daniel held the glass to her lips.

"Drink," he said. "Water... aqua." 

Aiyana sipped a little from the water, then a little more. Daniel looked at Janet and Sam, who were standing behind the window. Janet gave him a smile and a nod to continue. After Aiyana had taken another sip, he carefully removed the glass from her. If she drank too much, too fast, she might get sick. 

Jack gently lowered her head back on the gurney, before he looked at Daniel, a question in his eyes.

"Um, it's Latin."

"You sure she understands?"

"I have no idea. But it's what she reacted to. So I thought I'd give it a try," Daniel said.

Aiyana's eyes were steady now, looking at him intensely. "Daniel...is," she whispered. 

Daniel took her hand again and squeezed it. "Yes! Daniel. Danielis. Ego Danielis."

Aiyana brushed her fingertips over his. Then she craned her head and looked at her arm, where the bandage was.

"You were hurt. Tu iniuria."

Aiyana's eyes started to close, but she seemed to fight exhaustion. She started to pull at her restraints with the injured arm.

"No. It's okay. Reparo... um... Salveo. It's gonna be okay," Daniel soothed her. Then he turned to Jack. "Can't we take the restraints away?"

"Not yet."

He bit his tongue and reminded himself they were still not entirely sure with what they were dealing here. That he had promised to go by the rules.

"Okay," he finally sighed. "Maybe we should take a look at that wound? It seemed to bother her. Janet? Can you hear me? You want to come down here?"

When he let his eyes wander over to the window, Janet was gone. A moment later she entered the lab. She came slowly over and smiled at Aiyana, who seemed much calmer now. 

"Hey, how are you doing," Janet addressed her warmly. She held up her hands in a peaceful gesture and then nodded at Aiyana's arm. "Can I take a look at it?"

Daniel pointed at her. "Janet. She's a doctor," he explained, "Medicus." 

Very carefully, Janet removed the bandage from Aiyana's arm. The woman's green eyes tried to follow her every move. When the white bandage was gone, Janet stared at the arm in amazement. "It's gone," she told Jack and Daniel.

"Gone?" Jack looked over her shoulder. "Whoa."

Under the bandage the wound was healed. There was not even a scratch on her skin.

"Self healing abilities," Daniel said.

"It appears so," Janet agreed. "I have a few interesting results of the EEG we did on her. We should take a look at it together."

Daniel placed one of his hands on the sides of Aiyana's face. "I'll be back. Ego redeo," he whispered to her.

Aiyana closed her eyes and breathed, "Dormata." 

"She's asleep," Daniel mumbled, then frowned. "Dormata... is not... it would be dormio, for going to sleep... maybe dormitio for actually sleeping..."

He removed his hand from Aiyana's head and followed Jack and Janet out of the lab.

When they were all back into the observation room, Janet sat down at a monitor and waved at them to join her. Daniel, Sam and Michaels gathered around her while Jack stayed at the other end of the room and talked to Woods and Osbourne over the radio.

Shaking her head, Janet told the others, "There's really no telling what the effects of being frozen that long are. Even with her ability to… uh… preserve or heal herself physically, parts of her mind could have been damaged beyond repair. We have to wait and see. Obviously she does understand some of the words, Daniel spoke to her in Latin. It's a start."

Michaels  asked , "Do you think we could figure out how she's able to regenerate?"

“I don't know. I have to wait until the blood samples are ready. Let's take a look at the EEG results first."

Sam, Michaels and Daniel looked at the monitor displaying different brain wave patterns. It didn't mean much to Daniel, but he believed he already knew where Janet was going with this. Yet, he needed to be really sure before mentioning his theory. 

"What are they showing exactly?" Sam asked puzzled.

"The one on the top is not the EEG result from Aiyana. It's from the EEGs I took of Cassandra when she was suffering the effects of Nirrti's genetic experiment. When she started developing telekinetic abilities. Okay," Janet pointed to another brainwave pattern,"these are the ones I took of Colonel O'Neill when he had the knowledge of the Ancient repository downloaded into his brain. Now, I've been comparing them to Aiyana's." Another brain wave pattern showed up on the screen.

All three looked similar. Not entirely alike, but there were similarities.

Daniel touched the screen with his finger. It was just what he had been thinking.

Sam tried to sort out her thoughts. "Okay, Nirrti tried to create genetically enhanced human beings. And the Ancient device was rewriting Colonel O'Neill's memory until the Asgard put a stop to it..."

"It was doing more than that. It was activating dormant areas of his brain. Sam, look, what if there's more than just a coincidental similarity in these patterns," Janet pointed out. "Aiyana is another example of an advanced stage in the potential human evolutionary process. The odd thing is, that she's not ahead of us in the evolutionary time line. She's behind us, IF she originally is from Earth. But she seems to be basically human."

Jack came over and took a quick look at the monitor. "Woods and Osbourne are still out there. It looks like we're getting some bad weather. But they say they can handle and will be back in a few hours. So. What's going on?" 

Daniel was still staring at the brainwaves.

"She's an Ancient," he said firmly. "When I found out she seems to understand Latin, I suspected it. With what I learned about the Ancient language Jack spoke when he had the repository downloaded into his head, I found out that Latin is actually based on the language the Ancients used. When Aiyana told me she was going to sleep, she used an Ancient word. Not Latin as we know it. It makes perfect sense. They'd obviously been on Earth long before humans as we know them evolved. They built the stargates, so if the gate is as old as she is, she's most likely an Ancient." 

"But... That could mean that… that our evolution wasn't just some biological accident. We look just like her... and as you pointed out, it's not the other way around. That could mean, we are... descended from them?" Sam's eyes were big like saucers. 

Daniel looked at the brain wave patterns again. "Yes. That could be the case," he mumbled. "I'd like to talk to her some more."

"Let her sleep for a while," Janet said. Then, with a questioning look at the colonel, she requested, "I think we can take the restraints away. If she really is an Ancient, I'm sure she won't hurt us."

"Why?" Jack asked curtly. "Because all Ancients are good guys?" 

"She's my patient, Colonel. And so far she hasn’t acted aggressive or dangerous in any way. We have no need to believe she wants to do us any harm. I want her in a warm room and a bed. No restraints, some clothes. And if possible I want her to try some food once she wakes up. Soup would be good," Janet told him bluntly. 

Daniel cheered her on inwardly, unable to suppress a grin. He was confident enough not to get in the middle here. Janet would fight his battle this time and she would win. Nobody, not even Jack, would put up a fight with the little doctor if there was any chance she was right. 

"Fine," was the reluctant answer. "If she starts throwing people across the room or goes all wacko on us, don't say I didn't warn ya."

"She won't. I'll keep her on a low tranquillizer dose for now. Just so she won't panic or anything. Tomorrow we'll see how she's doing. All of this must be a huge shock to her," Janet said.

Jack pursed his lips and thought about it for a moment. "Do you have a room for her, Michaels?"

"Yes. There's a third bedroom we don't use. We could put a bed in there and make it a little homelike. There's a security camera in there."

"Okay. Teal'c I want you to guard her. Just in case," Jack ordered. 

Teal'c bowed his head in agreement. "I will also help to arrange the quarters for Aiyana," he said and followed Michaels out of the room.

*******

"Checkmate," Jack grinned an hour later and tipped Daniel's king over.

"Damn. How could I miss it," the kid groaned, slapping a hand over his face.

"Guess you're a little distracted, huh," Jack said. "Good for me."

"Yeah. Maybe. She's still sleeping. She didn't even wake up when they took her into the room."

"What about you? Are you tired? Hungry?"

"No and no."

Daniel started pack ing the chessboard away. They had made themselves comfortable in the sitting area of the research lab. Carter was on the other couch, reading a book. Fraiser worked on the blood samples and Teal'c stood guard in front of Aiyana’s new room.

"I wonder what her name is. Her real name," Daniel mumbled.

"If she can remember," Carter said, looking at them over the rim of her book.

It was a Stephen Hawking book. Go figure. It looked like she had read it several times. Jack wondered if she ever did something that had nothing to do with quarks, black holes or other aspects of quantum physics. She did not knit. That was for sure. Oh, he remembered she was working on a motorcycle with Siler on her downtime. Well, there was hope for her then.

Daniel gazed at one of the chess figures in his hand. It was the black queen. "She's going to tell me about the plague and why they had to flee. And where they went. Maybe she knows where it is."

"Where what is?” Carter frowned.

"The Lost City. They built it. Then they had to leave." 

"Daniel, what are you..." she started, puzzled.

Jack put a finger  t o his lips and shook his head. He bent forward a little and watched the kid carefully. "The Lost City?" he asked quietly.

"Atlantica," Daniel answered in a dazed voice, still looking dreamy at the chess figure.

"The Ancients built Atlantis," Jack guessed.

"Yes. Then they left."

Now Carter put her book away and joined in, "The Ancients left... where to?"

"They left," Daniel repeated. "After the plague."

"The plague," Jack questioned gently. "What plague?"

The chess figure slipped Daniel's fingers and fell on the carpeted floor with a low thud. Daniel blinked. "What?"

"You were just... a little zoned out," Jack explained, feeling the hairs on his neck rise. 

"You were talking about the Ancients. About the plague... Daniel, what do you know about this plague? I know we've been speculating about it a few times. That there might have been a plague. We know the Ancients had left our Galaxy millennia ago. The Asgard told Colonel O'Neill when they extracted the Ancient knowledge from his brain. But what about the Lost City - you called it Atlantica."

Daniel rubbed his temples and shook his head. "Sam... Sam, I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just putting away the chess figures."

"No, Daniel. You weren't... Sir?" Carter looked at Jack for help.

"She's right. You were going a little psychic on us... or so it seems," O'Neill muttered.

"I was? What did I say... oh wait... You said I was talking about a plague and the Ancients. That's not unusual and not psychic at all. You remember P4X 639?"

"No." Jack shrugged.

"Yes." Carter nodded.

"Of course, you do," Jack said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"The planet that had this time machine. You and Teal'c went into a time loop after..."

"Oh, yes, I remember that. Time loops, Froot Loops," Jack groused. 

Daniel snorted, then sobered and explained, "As I originally suspected, that planet was once a colony of the Ancients. They thrived there for thousands of years, until they were struck by some sort of unspecified cataclysm, perhaps a disease, but we'll never really know for sure. So there might have been a plague - or not. Maybe Aiyana can give me some information about that. I have no idea about a Lost City."

When Jack and Carter just looked at him, he frowned. "Was I really talking about that? I mean, if I was - why can't I remember?"

O'Neill gave his 2IC a questioning look. She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was your subconscious mind talking to us. Maybe you actually remembered some of the knowledge Oma gave you? Or more like something triggered a subconscious memory, but you can't recall it now. You were in some sort of... trance. "

Daniel gaped at her. "I was? Really?"

"Yeah. Kinda spooky. And it wasn't the first time," Jack said. 

Carter looked alarmed now. "It happened before? When? Did you report it to Janet, sir?" 

"In Cairo, he had one of those moments. I didn't think it was important. He was reading something... and then talked about the Ancients building Atlantis. But Fraiser did an EEG of Daniel after we were back. Of both Daniel's – to compare  brain patterns. She didn't find anything unusual," Jack said.

Daniel was chewing his bottom lip again. Jack wished he would get rid of that habit. But he guessed it was a Daniel-thing, so he had given up telling him to stop it. "I also dreamed of Anubis," the kid mumbled suddenly. "In Egypt. Remember that, Jack? He had no face."

"Well, that was because we spent too much time in that museum," Jack muttered.

"What was that dream about?" Carter required curiously.

"Oh, I don't remember everything. He was the black jackal - the god of the death. I stood in front of a statue in the Egyptian museum. Suddenly the statue changed and transformed itself into a scary figure with a hooded cape. And he had no face. There was just... light. Like... I don't know."

"You said something about death lights  swimming on some oily surface ," Jack remembered. "It was just a dream."

"Maybe not," Carter said slowly. "Sir, while you were in Egypt Anubis tried to attack Earth. He sent a huge amount of energy through the gate and was about to overload it. He was planning to create an explosion that would have destroyed Earth."

"Yeah. But he never showed up himself, right? He sent some ugly hologram and gave you the over the top You-are-all-doomed-resistance-is-futile crap."

"Yes. But did you watch the videos from the security cams in the gate room? That holographic image of Anubis was a tall dark figure in a cape and a hood. Also there was no face. At least not that I remember. I couldn't see lights. But no face either. I just thought it was because of the quality of the image."

"That's what I thought. The quality of the footage wasn't all that great because the holograph kept fluctuating. Was a cool idea you had there, sending the gate into space," Jack said.

"Yes. Anyway... I had other things in mind than thinking about what Anubis looked like. We only had fifty-four hours before the Stargate was going to get critical and then they sent that... Doctor McKay to... assist me. He wanted us to send an electromagnetic pulse through the wormhole and knock out whatever was on the other end. I told him it was problematic to do that, because it would increase the flow of energy into the gate ten times,..."

"Aht! Carter! I read your report. The paragraphs about what you were thinking about McKay’s expertise and his attempt to come on to you were extremely..."

"Jack," Daniel chided.

"...uh... entertaining."

"I didn't write anything about that in my report, sir. That would have been inappropriate. I told you guys about that during our last team night," Sam told him a little stiff.

"You were complaining..."

"Only about his methods and that I had doubts about his idea with the EM pulse. Not about his... err... crush on me." She blushed and then added defiantly. "His plan failed anyway. Letting the gate explode in space might not have been a very brilliant solution, but it worked. Even though it destroyed the gate and forced us to ask the Russians for theirs..."

O'Neill shrugged. "Carter, you're always right. No matter how wacky your ideas are. I already told you I have the greatest confidence in your abilities. You know that, don't ya? Even though having to ask the Russians of all people for their gate..." He rolled his eyes. “Well, everything has a down side.”

“Who else was there to ask? Only the Russians do have a gate,” Daniel said. 

"I wasn't fishing for compliments, sir. But this... this... McKay makes me mad. Yeah. There are not many people who put me off balance like that guy."

"So now you know how I feel with Daniel," O'Neill snorted, ducking away when said Daniel threw one of the small black couch cushions at him. The cushion hit Carter, who snatched it and placed it on her lap. 

"Yes. But you love Daniel. Right?" 

"Uh, well... There's that."

"I don't. Love McKay. He just pisses me off." Now Carter sounded almost like a sulking Daniel. Then she grabbed the cushion and threw it back at Daniel, who started to giggle and passed it on to Jack, who threw it playfully back at him. Daniel caught it, lay down and placed the cushion under his head. Then he started wriggling his feet behind Jack's back, poking his toes into his side in the attempt. 

"Can we get back on topic here," Jack said. "You were saying... what exactly were you saying, Carter?"

"We were talking about Anubis. About how he had no face in the holographic image of himself," she said.

"Right. Are you sure? Daniel, stop poking me." Jack reached behind, grabbed and pulled Daniel's legs  out  from  his back . He took hold of Daniel's right foot and started tickl ing .

"Positive, sir."

"Stop it... Ja...!" Daniel screeched, wriggling and trying to get his leg free.

"Stop poking those little buggers into my kidneys," Jack said. He then caught Daniel's other leg. With an evil grin, he pulled at his socks and knotted them together. 

"Jack, you're an ass! Stop that! You being bigger than me is no reason to... nonono... stop tickling my feet... Saaaammmm," Daniel chortled, kicking his legs frantically.

Carter was sitting there, watching them. Then a grin slowly appeared on her face. "Isn't tickling your civilian consultant against the regs, sir?" 

"Yeah? So? Therefore?" Jack chuckled, not stopping what he was doing. Daniel was spluttering and laughing, his face red and scrunched up. His glasses were hanging askew from his nose. 

"I might come to his rescue," she threatened him and rose to her feet. She bent over, grabbed the wriggling kid under his armpits and with a jerk pulled him away from Jack who was suddenly only holding the knotted sock in his hands. 

Carter and Daniel fell backwards on the other sofa together, both laughing. She still had her arms around him, and hugged him tight for a moment. 

"Thanks for the rescue," Daniel giggled and wriggled out of her embrace.

"Hey, anytime. It's what we do," she grinned. "We have to stick together against him."

"Oh yeah. He needs to be put back into his place from time to time," Daniel agreed.

"Hey! I know it doesn't say Colonel anywhere on my uniform. That doesn't mean you two can start mutiny," O'Neill complained, whining.

"A good leader always appreciates and listens to the opinions and expertise of his subordinates," Daniel smart-assed. "Especially to his civilian consultant."

"Yes, sir. Especially when he's the cutest civilian consultant you can imagine," Carter grinned. Then she looked like she wanted to bite her tongue. "Uh, sorry, Daniel. That came out the wrong way... the cute thing." 

Daniel just shrugged it off. 

Jack watched them, hardly able to hold back a smile. 

Daniel had come a long way with the touching and the knowledge that everybody thought he was unbelievable cute. He seemed to be much more relaxed. It was another one of the changes Jack sometimes almost missed, because they seemed so  small . And yet for Daniel they were huge steps. Maybe he was going to have more and more happy times before this childhood adventure was over. Good memories... at least for Jack. Because Daniel wouldn't have them, once he got his adult body back. 

But Jack was soaking up those good days and Daniel's kid moments like a sponge, vowing to himself that he would never forget them.

He grabbed the cushion again. Throwing it at Daniel, he said, "Go, get something to eat. And while you're at it, I'd like a sandwich."

"Turkey?" Daniel asked, smacking the cushion back at him.

"Yep."

Jack handed him his socks. "Put those on first."

While he was putting his woolen socks on, he asked, "You want something too, Sam?"

"Oh, no, thanks." She smiled.

Daniel sprinted out of the research lab.

O'Neill finished putting away the chessboard, when he felt the eyes of his 2IC resting on him.

He gave her a questioning look. "What?"

"Do you think we should have Janet take another EEG? I mean even if she didn't find anything when you got back from Egypt..."

"Yeah, might be a good idea," Jack decided after a moment. Carter was right. Fraiser should know about this. 

They got up from the couch, when Daniel came back. He handed Jack a sandwich and was gone again, calling back over his shoulder that Aiyana was awake and that he would stay with her.

"Hey, will you wait for me," Jack called after him.

"Sir, Teal'c is standing guard." Carter said, a smile on her face. "There's a camera in the room. We can watch him from the observation room."

O'Neill felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. But he followed his 2IC and settled at the monitor that showed the now re-arranged bedroom. They had made one of the lower beds for Aiyana. She was now wearing a fleece jacket and pants. Her shoulder length auburn hair was still tousled and she looked a little drowsy. She was sitting on the bed, looking around the room. Jack thought she looked much less afraid now. A little shy, maybe. 

Daniel entered, Teal'c hovering behind him with a tray that held a bowl of soup and a sandwich. 

*******

"Hello again," Daniel greeted Aiyana, saying the Ancient word right after it. "Avetius."

A shy smile flickered over her face. But as soon as she spotted Teal'c, she started crawl ing backwards on the bed, her eyes widening with fear. She clutched the gray blanket and shook her head.

"It's okay. This is Teal'c. He's a friend... um..." Daniel pointed at the Jaffa, who placed the tray on the table next to the bed and backed off until he was standing near the door again. But he wasn't leaving the room. "Aequus - friendly."

The hands that were clutching the blanket relaxed.

Daniel sat on the bed  beside her. He pointed at the tablet. "Hungry? Food - nutrimens."

Aiyana came forward and peered at the blue plastic bowl. She sniffed at the soup. Then her hand reached out for the spoon. She took it and looked at it for a moment.

"It's... it's for the soup," Daniel explained. He wasn't sure why he was talking to her in English and Ancient. Or in Latin, if he didn't know the Ancient word. He just felt it was worth the effort. "Spoon - coclear."

She turned the spoon over in her hands, fingering it for a minute. Then she suddenly seemed to remember. She sat on the edge of the bed and reached out for the bowl. "Jus?" she asked, dipping the spoon into the hot soup.

"Jus...Yes! Soup. Jus," Daniel said delighted.

Aiyana started eat ing , hesitantly at first. After a few spoon fulls, she smacked her lips and smiled more confidently. "Jus," she repeated. "Bona"

"Good? Yes! Aetiem!"

As the soup got colder she  ate faster. Daniel watched her empty the bowl. When she placed it back on the tray, he offered her the bread. Aiyana looked at it, then took it and carefully took a bite. It was a cheese sandwich. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, and then grimaced. Shaking her head she put the bread back on the plate.

He smiled at her. "You don't have to eat it. It's okay."

Aiyana tilted her head. "O-kay," she slowly repeated.

"Yeah... like... um... placet?"

"Okay," Aiyana said.

Daniel tried not to fidget. She was not only understanding and now speaking - she also seemed to be trying to learn English. How fast could she learn? He had no idea. There was so much he wanted to know, so many questions popping into his head all at once. But he had to hold back and take this one step at a time. He didn't want to scare or over strain her. 

"Tempus?" Aiyana asked suddenly, frowning

Daniel sucked his cheeks in, trying to figure out how to explain this to her. He very carefully started to tell her that she had been asleep under the ice for many many years. Aiyana listened when he did it first in English and then in Latin. He was not sure about the terminology in Ancient. 

When he was finished, she didn't react at first. Then she said, "Dormata. Millenia."

"Yes. You slept for millenia. A very long time."

"Glacies."

"Yes. Ice. In the ice," Daniel nodded.

Aiyana shivered. She pulled her blanket around her body and then just sat there and absently gazed at Daniel. "Tu Danielis," she whispered. "Ego.... " She frowned. Then shook her head. 

"Tu onè Quiatus," Daniel tried. "You are the Ancient... an Ancient."

"Quiatus," Aiyana repeated thoughtfu l ly, then shook her head and pointed at herself. "Ego Altera."

"Tu... Altera? That's your name," Daniel asked.

Another head shak e , frustrated this time. "Altera... Astria Porta."

Daniel took his journal that had been lying on one of the other beds. He wrote down the words and then turned the pages until he found something. Showing her a drawing of the Stargate he had made some years ago, he asked: "Astria Porta?"

"Aetiem."

"Aetiem is... yes."

Aiyana looked up. "Y...yes."

"Great. Okay. " He pointed at the symbols on the gate. "Do you recognize those?"

Aiyana frowned again, then shook her head no. Then yes. Then no again.

"I guess you can't remember, right? Memoria..."

She took the journal from him and put a finger on the stargate drawing. "Astria porta. Navo locas."

"The Astria porta takes us to new locations. Nova locas. Okay... you... you came from... one place and went to others through them, right?" Daniel translated that into Latin, using all possible ancient words he knew. Aiyana listened, but when he was finished, she just sighed and shrugged.

"Altera," she repeated quietly.

"Altera," Daniel echoed.

“Domestica. Altera."

"Domestica?... domesticus... belonging to the house... domesticatim... home. Domestico Altera? Altera is your homeworld? Is that it? Origin? Where you came from?"

"Origin. Altera. Home," Aiyana nodded  enthusiastically . “ Okay, ye-s.”

Daniel scribbled that into his journal, too. As an afterthought he held out his pencil to her and the book. Maybe she was able to write down the gate symbols for her homeworld. "Altera locas?"

"Altera origin. Nova locas."

"Yes... but..." Daniel tried to ask her for the location of Altera, but she shook her head again. 

"Altera. Home." She smiled and reached out to brush the knuckles of her hand over his face. Daniel held totally still when she touched him. "Venustas," she suddenly whispered. "Danielis."

He stared back at her, into her green deep eyes. "No. No I'm not," he shook his head.

Jack had said that to him a long time ago. Closing his eyes he tried to force away the whispers of his memories... Venustas... adorabilis... 

Daniel bit hard on his lip and moved away from her. "I have to go," he said, his voice shaking.

"G...o?"

"You need rest. Dormata. Sleep."

She nodded and lay down on the bed. "Sleep."

"Yes - Aetiem. Ego redeo - I will be back."

"Back," Aiyana said.

"Yeah."

She pulled the blanket over her body, then closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep immediately.

Teal'c, who was still standing next to the door, tilted his head and gave him a worried look. "Is everything all right, DanielJacksonO'Neill?"

"Yes. Thanks. I'm just... tired."

He left the room and rubbed his temples. 

The others were sitting in the observation room when he got there, watching Aiyana sleep.

"Hey," Janet greeted him with a smile. "You accomplished a big deal in there, Daniel. We know now she can speak and is a quick study. Looks like she already knows some English words. But there seems to be a partial brain damage. She only speaks two word sentences and she doesn't seem to be able to connect certain  elements . She did, however, know how to use a spoon and simple things like that."

"She couldn't read the gate symbols, nor did she make an attempt to draw or write something for me. I think she doesn't remember everything and I think she's aware of it. She was very frustrated because she wasn't able to tell me her name," Daniel reported, rubbing an absent hand over his aching forehead.

He hadn't even realized he had a headache.

Janet watched him for a moment. "Daniel, will you please come into the quarantine lab with me for a moment? I'd like to take an EEG of you," she said.

Frowning he got up and followed her. "Why?"

"Colonel O'Neill said you were having some kind of…. trance. He also told me it wasn't the first time. I just want to check on you, okay?"

"Sam says it's my subconscious mind, giving away bits and pieces of Oma's downloading - something like that," Daniel mumbled. 

He didn't feel so good. He sat down on the stool Janet offered him and had to grit his teeth so they would not chatter. He was cold all of a sudden, even shivering a little.

She started attach ing electrodes to his head after she had smoothed his hair away a little. Suddenly she stopped and placed a cool hand on his forehead. "Daniel, are you feeling all right?" 

"I'm fine."

"You're a little warm. Let me check your temperature first, okay? It'll take just a minute." 

He had no idea where she got it from, but a moment later he was holding an ear thermometer in his hand. When it beeped they both looked at it.

"Hmm...102.5 degrees. That's not too bad for someone your physical age. But it's a fever. I'll finish the EEG and then I want you to lie down, okay? I'll come by later and give you something. Maybe the long flights and the change of climate or the excitement about Aiyana were a little too much."

Daniel didn't answer. Now he was starting to sweat. But he didn't want to lie down. He wanted to talk to Aiyana again. He started getting angry at himself for allowing some old memories to get him off balance. It was just a voice from his past. Yet it had startled him. 

_Venustas... adorabilis... mei Daniel_

Closing his eyes he tried to think of something different. He didn't want to think of those things anymore. They were just hurting him. He had almost stopped living in his past. He didn't need the bitter sweet ghosts that had haunted him for so long. But it had been the first time. The first sign that Jack had felt more for him than just friendship. 

Daniel remembered how they had been sitting in his office after Sam and Teal'c had gone to search for traces of the Ancients on P9Q-281. Jack had been frustrated. He wasn't able to speak English anymore and Daniel had only started  to become familiar with the Ancient language. At one point Jack had laid down on the sofa and slapped both hands over his face. Daniel had crouched  by his side . He had placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and told him...

_..."You are not going to lose your mind, Jack. I won't let that happen."_

_After a moment, Jack lowered his hands and looked at him with almost pleading eyes. Daniel had never seen him so vulnerable. Not since the first time they had met on Abydos._

_"Cruvus," Jack said. "Ego... "_

_"What's wrong? You feel wrong?"_

_"Aetiem." Then he shook his head. "Haud."_

_"No? Nothing's wrong?"_

_"Tactus? Tu?"_

_"You want to touch...?"_

_Jack reached out for Daniel's face. Daniel sat there, unable to move when Jack's fingers brushed over his cheek, wandered down and then rested on his lips for a moment. "Venustas... adorabilis... mei Daniel."_

_He felt his journal slip from his shaking hands. He didn't need a dictionary to translate it. Jack's fingertips traced his mouth. He tried to resist the urge to kiss them, or let his tongue come out and touch them. To taste them. Then Jack's hand left him and he still felt his lips tingle with the sensation of the touch._

_"Jack... what are you saying," he breathed, not really believing what he had just heard and felt._

_But Jack shook his head and turned away from him, his face flushed all of a sudden, as if he was ashamed of what he had just done._

_Daniel grabbed Jack's hand and squeezed it. "Don't. You won't probably remember any of this. And you'll never tell me again. So... don't... feel bad about it. I understand. I mean, I disagree. I'm not adorable and... charming... or... beautiful. The point is..."_

_When Jack turned to look at him again, there was a lopsided smile on his face. "Garrulusa, Daniel."_

_"Garrulusa? Garrulus... What? I'm not babbling... hey... you just... I mean..."_

...He had never finished that sentence. Janet entered his office and a moment later, Jack was  had been building something that had later helped him to reinforce the power of the gate so he could go to the Asgard homeworld. 

Daniel had never mentioned any of this to Jack later. He wasn't sure if Jack really meant what he had said or if the Ancient repository had somehow mixed up his mind. A while later he'd found out it had always been there. Having the Ancient knowledge in his head, had only allowed Jack to lower his shields. Obviously the Ancients didn't care about rules and regulations for same gender relationships.

"We're done, Daniel. You can go to bed now," Janet's voice seemed to come from far away  as she removed the electrodes from his head .

He shook himself out of his memories and got up from the stool. Without a word he left the lab. He was walking on wobbly legs and his head seemed to be bigger than normal. 

He made his way to the bedroom and then stood there and stared at the bunk beds. He felt too weak suddenly to climb up there. So he just let himself down on Jack's bed and buried his now hot face into the pillow. His hands found  an old  US AF t-shirt Jack wore in bed . He  tugged the shirt around himself like a cover and inhaled the calming familiar scent. He knew it wasn't the best thing to do because it would spark more memories. 

But it also soothed him and lulled him into a sweet bubble of safety and belonging. 

*******

When Fraiser told him Daniel was running a fever, Jack had just gotten a report from Woods and Osbourne. They had taken more core samples and were now on their way back to the station. He shut the radio off and went over into the bedroom. 

"I don't think we need to worry. He wasn't feeling well after the flight. Could be the whole excitement and the long travel. It happens with kids," Fraiser had told him with a smile. 

Jack sn uck into the bedroom as quietly as possible. He didn't want to wake his kid up. 

Daniel wasn't in the upper bed. But a second later Jack spotted him in his bed, fully dressed, but only covered with O'Neill's shirt. 

Jack pulled the blanket out from under Daniel and took off his warm pants. He didn't want to disturb him so he left the fleece shirt on for now and just covered him with the blanket. He grabbed Amab the monkey and put it next to the sleeping child. 

He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully  brushed a hand  over Daniel's face. With a low groan, Danny moved his head to his side. Jack cupped his cheek and then felt his forehead. His hair was  damp from sweat . 

"Shit," he cursed and was out of the room in a flash.

He stormed into the observation room and stopped short when he found Fraiser and Carter bent over an unconscious Michaels. She was lying on the floor, panting harshly.

"What the hell...?" 

"She came in her and just collapsed," Fraiser said while she was injecting something into her arm. "She's running a high fever."

"Well, Daniel is burning up, too," Jack said. "You better come over and take a look at him."

"Bring her into the bedroom," Fraiser told O'Neill and was gone.

Together with Carter he carried Michaels over into the same bedroom Daniel was in, and settled her in one of the bunks. 

Fraiser was examining Daniel. "His fever is up to 105. I’ll hook him up on an IV and give him antibiotics. I'll do the same with Michaels. Sam, can you help me get everything over here from the station’s infirmary?"

The blond major followed the doc and Jack hurried back over to Daniel, who had started to whimper in his sleep. He was sweating and shivering. Jack stroked his hair and rubbed his back. "Hey buddy. It's okay. Doc is getting you some meds. Everything's going to be fine," he told him soothingly, not sure if the kid was even aware that he was here.

The women returned and Jack had to get out of the way for a moment. He watched Fraiser put the IV needle into Daniel's right hand and then do the same with Michaels. Carter helped her with the medications. 

O'Neill rubbed his hands over his face. It was that woman. He knew it. She was carrying some ugly virus. He had taken Daniel with him because he had thought it was a nice trip. Crap. He should have known it would come back and bite him in the ass. It always did.

"I know what you're thinking, Colonel," Fraiser said.

He glared at her. Shouldn't she have known? She had done all those tests and took all those samples. "And?"

"It's possible she may be carrying a contagion of some kind. I'll go and do some more tests."

"Yeah," he said, his eyes resting on Daniel who started  to get restless. Jack went over and sat by his side again. "What about her? Shouldn't she be ill too?"

Fraiser shook her head. She sounded tired when she explained, "There are a number of examples of diseases that have no effect on the carrier, but can still infect others. It may be that her healing abilities are fighting off the infection in her own system without eradicating it completely."

Daniel started toss ing and turn ing under the blanket, his hands wandering over the woolen fabric. Jack captured them in his and held them still. He listened to the flat and fast breathing. He knew this. Charlie  used to breath e like this when he had run a high fever. There were two glowing  red spots on Daniel's pale face and his eyelids were fluttering. O'Neill tossed off his boots and crawled into the bed, cradling the pliant shivering body in the blanket into his arms. 

"I've got you, Danny. Shh. Easy, I'm here," he whispered, rocking him gently.

Feverish blue eyes opened for a moment and looked at him. "J'ck?"

"Hey there," Jack said softly.

"Wass goin' on?"

"You're  a  little sick. Go back to sleep, buddy. Janet gave you something."

"Hurts," Daniel whimpered. 

"What hurts?" 

"Everythin`... head... don' go 'way..."

Jack tightened his arms around him and dropped a kiss to the damp blond hair. "Not going anywhere, kiddo."

When he heard Fraiser clear her throat he looked up and met her worried eyes. "Colonel, we have to call the flight off. Until I know a lot more about what's going on here, we're quarantined."

"Carter can do it. You think we'll all get this... whatever it is?"

"It's possible. I’m going to draw more blood."

He nodded. "Keep me posted."

She turned and was about to leave the room, but she stopped at the door and looked back at them. Her voice was unusually shaky, when she said, "I'm sorry, sir."

"It's not your fault," he said. 

And it wasn't.

It was just another mess they had gotten themselves into. Just another of those really bad days. Maybe Daniel was right. It didn't really matter how old he was, or how big. Or how careful. Trouble could be waiting around the next corner no matter how hard Jack tried to minimize the risks. There was no "safe side" in what they were doing. He buried his face into Daniel's hair and held onto him for dear life. All he could hope was that this virus wasn't that damn plague. 

**VI**

He had no idea how long he had been sitting there with Danny in his arms. The kid was drifting in and out of sleep. With Fraiser’s help he had pulled off Daniel's fleece shirt  earlier because he’ d been sweating so hard. Fraiser had put another bag on the IV with fluids so he wouldn't dehydrate. Michaels seemed to be in the same state.

"Whatever this is, it's fast," she had said. "The antibiotics aren't working. And Michaels isn't doing any better."

“What about sponge baths?" O'Neill had asked, remembering this from times when his son had been sick. 

"I'm afraid it won't help. We have to find a cure to this. Fast. And I'm not sure if I can. Aiyana is the carrier, but somehow she's able to prevent herself from getting it. I'm not sure she knows what's going on. She isn't talking either to me or Sam. We tried."

She had looked down at Daniel and lowered her voice as if she feared he might hear her. "Michael's fever is even higher than Daniel's. I'm afraid her kidneys will start to shut down. It doesn't look good, sir."

Jack had looked over at the woman, who was lying on the other bed, breathing harshly. "How long?"

"I don't know. Days. Hours. I have never seen anything like this."

"Woods and Osbourne back yet?" O'Neill had asked, feeling no need to comment on the dark prognosis.

"No. Sam is trying to contact them. But they are not responding."

With that she had left them.

Now Daniel had fallen into a deep sleep, his hands clutched at Jack's shirt. O'Neill very carefully loosened the kid’s grip on it and slipped out from under him. He didn't want to leave him, but he had to know what was going on. He felt a headache coming his way. Rubbing his forehead, he left the room and found Carter and Frasier in the quarantine lab.

"Anything on Woods or Osbourne?" he asked hoarsely.

Carter shook her head. "No, sir. There's a storm outside and they are not responding."

Fraiser sighed. "If they developed the same symptoms as Michaels and Daniel, they could be weak, disoriented or even passed out."

"But they weren't in direct contact with Aiyana," Carter objected.

"I don't know how contagious this virus is, yet. Maybe it's spreading like the common cold."

Carter grimaced and held her head with both hands. She blinked a few times and rubbed her neck. Jack patted her shoulder. "You alright, Carter?"

She gave him a nod, but her pale face gave her away. Fraiser whipped out the thermometer. "You don't look so good, Sam. Neither do you, Colonel," she said gloomily. When she had taken Carter’s temperature, she let out a little sigh. "I'm sorry, Sam. You've got a fever, too. You should lie down. I'll work on this as fast as I can."

"I can help you. I'm fine. Just a headache," Carter insisted.

O'Neill gritted his teeth. He didn't want to leave Daniel alone. But he couldn't leave the two scientists out there either. With Carter being exposed, there was little sense in sending her out with Teal'c. He knew he would get it, too, sooner or later. But right now he didn't feel sick. The headache wasn't really bad, yet. So they better went out there now before they all came down with this. 

"Teal'c and I are going after Woods and Osbourne," Jack said curtly.

Carter's head shot up. "You should stay with Daniel, sir. I’ll go."

"I want you to go and stay with him until I'm back," he told her firmly. "I'll go get T." With that he left,  leaving no room for discussion. He found Teal'c standing guard in front of Aiyana's room. The tall dark man looked concerned, when Jack told him to get ready to leave.

"I will go out and find DoctorWoods and Osbourne alone, O'Neill. There is no need for you to leave DanielJackson's side."

"And what if you get lost? Besides, we need two snowmobiles if we have to carry them here. Carter's staying with Daniel. Come on, let's go."

He tried not to think about his boy as they bundled up and got the snowmobiles ready. His first priority was rescuing the two men out there. Which was maybe not worth the trouble anyway since they might be dead already.

But he had to try. He had to put command first.

Jack felt an irrational flare of rage inside, a red hot wall of anger. 

It weren't just good people that were going to die here. They were the best. His team. His kids. And he was supposed to watch out for them. He knew this wasn't anybody’s fault. It was just the risk coming with the job. Yet, he hated that he had no control over things all the time. 

This wasn't even worth it.

Of all the times he had been near death, or thought his people were going to die, he'd always known what they were dying for. It had been ugly at times. But it had been what they did. And in the end they had always made it.

Now they weren't saving the damn world out here. It was just a virus coming from a pre-historic bitch that should have been dead a long time ago. If they were going to die it shouldn't be in friggin' Antarctica. Not on a mission like this. Not with Daniel on the team.

Well, crap happened. 

No need to argue that.

But if they were going to Netu, he and Daniel should be together at least. 

He remembered how he had to leave Daniel in the infirmary when Reese attacked the base with her replicator toys. How he had been torn between doing his job and staying at Daniel's side. How he had to leave him on Klorel's ship. How he almost had to leave him behind on Lotan's ship, had almost blown him up with it...

Now he had to leave him again. He didn't want to. 

A heavy hand on his shoulder made him jerk his head up.

"O'Neill. Are you not feeling well?"

"Head's killing me," he croaked and shrugged the hand off.

He was going to function. He was going to get those guys back to the station. Dead or alive. Daniel would understand. Because Daniel knew what it meant to be forced to put duty first. He wasn't a kid. He knew if Jack had to leave, it was because he couldn't shrug his responsibilities off to somebody else. 

But it wasn't the right thing to do. It wasn't what he wanted to do. Again he had to fight down his feelings to go through with this. It seemed to get harder and harder.

But he would.

"DanielJacksonO'Neill will not be alone," Teal'c said quietly. "He will still be here when we get back."

After a moment, Jack nodded and clapped the broad back of the big warrior. "Yeah."

He better got a grip on himself. 

They weren't dead yet. 

*******

Daniel was burning.

He stared at the bunk above him and tried to focus on the mattress. But it kept swaying and floating as though it was liquid. He could feel the heat radiating in waves from his body. His tongue came out, wetting his dry chapped lips. He felt odd. His body seemed too heavy to move. He tried raising his head, but it seemed as big as a bowling ball

He was thirsty and anxious. He wanted to get up.

Where was Jack?

Jack had said he would stay....

Daniel t ri ed roll ing on his left side, but he couldn't make it. He was flat on his back again, blinking up at the floating swaying mattress. 

Jack was lying next to him....

No, not Jack. It was...

Daniel blinked and tried to focus again. But everything was still floating around him and he was so hot. He smelled sweat and sickness. Somebody was groaning.

Not Jack.

He tried say ing his name, but couldn't get a tone out.

Daniel closed his eyes when the world around him started spin ning .

He felt hands on his face, gently stroking his cheeks and hair,

"Daniel? Daniel, it's me, Sam. Can you hear me?"

Sam.

He tried say ing her name, but his tongue felt swollen and useless. He blinked, or maybe he only thought he did. He was so hot. Yet he felt his body shiver. His teeth started chatter ing . He couldn't stop it.

The hands were still there, smoothing away his hair. Sam was talking to him, but the clashing of his teeth was so loud, he couldn't hear her. She seemed to be in panic. He felt himself spasm in cramps.

Sam yelled for Janet, her voice strangely shrill in Daniel's ears.

A moment later he was lifted and carried somewhere. The room was still floating around him, only the lights seemed to change. Janet was there, calling him by his name. He was put down somewhere. He didn't care. He was hot and cold, and his neck was stiff. He couldn't move his head. 

He wanted Jack. 

Where was he?

All he could do was stare into the floating lights around him.

They frightened him. 

The lights frightened him and made him feel sick. They never stopped moving.

Jack... 

Jack would make them stop.

No. He had a fever. He remembered Jack telling him. Janet had given him something. Jack had said he would be okay. The lights were the headlights of the room. He couldn't focus. It was the fever. No need to be scared. 

Janet was talking to Sam. The words came and went like waves.

“...is back to normal... don't have to intubate yet... more antibiotics... ”

Antibiotics wouldn't work. It was the plague. Aiyana carried it and now that she had been brought back to life, she had given it to all of them. There was no cure. It was why the Ancients had left. They, who were the oldest race of humanoids in a galaxy far away... They had come from Altera, the origin of the Ancients...

It was all so clear suddenly. Like a door had opened and he was able to look into a secret chamber. Suddenly his thoughts were crystal clear. The pain was gone and he could see everything... 

  
  


_...There had been disagreements about philosophical ways between the Altera and another group of humans that lived there. Daniel didn't know their name. He knew it was there somewhere in his mind though. The Altera had no choice but to leave or start a war. They chose to leave their homeworld and traveled to the Milky Way millenia ago. They settled and built the Astria porta network. They lived peacefully and thrived again._

_Until the plague came. A deadly disease that swept over the galaxy like a swarm of replicators and killed millions of them._

_Those who didn't die were fleeing ..._

_Avalon._

_The Altera had called this galaxy Avalon._

_Or was it Earth they had called Avalon?_

_They left... not all of them, but a large group of people.... they built the Lost City and left for a faraway galaxy. But they returned. Later. Long after the plague had destroyed all life that had been in the Milky Way. And they seeded new life._

_The Ancients were the life givers..._

  
  


...Daniel knew something wasn't right about that, but he felt his mind drift away from it. The heat seemed to eat him up. Suddenly he was aware of his body again and felt the pain in his head and neck. 

The world was still floating.

They were all going to die.

Where was Jack?

Why wasn't he with him?

He was missing something... he needed to go back to that secret room in his mind... needed to find the missing piece... Aiyana. Aiyana was carrying the plague.

But she wasn't sick. She was....

Daniel needed to talk.

To communicate.

"Jan..." he rasped, fighting the heat and the pain with all his might.

"I'm here, honey. Hang in there. You listen to me? Don't you dare..."

He tried to focus on Janet's voice. He could hear the tears in it. "Aiy..." he whispered, hoping she understood.

"She's alright, Daniel. She isn't infected," Janet told him.

"Talk."

"You want to talk to her?"

He moved his head up and down, ignoring how painful even that little movement was. When he concentrated real hard he was able to see Janet's face hovering over him through the haze. An oval spot with brown hair.... another head joined her. 

"'am?"

When she spoke, he managed to stay focused on her words. Maybe that was a good thing. "Yes, Daniel it's me. You are very sick. I'm not sure it's a good idea to take you over to Aiyana right now."

Janet's voice. "Sam, we don't have anything to lose. I say we bring him over to her and see what happens. I can't do anything for him. Maybe... maybe she can."

"Are you sure?"

"Look. I can't get anything useful out of the blood samples. I'm at my wits end. There is no bacteria growth in the culture I made. I can boost the dose of antibiotic, but I don't think it's showing an effect. If Daniel wants to talk to her, we should let him." 

He was picked up again by Sam. He was so tired. But he couldn't sleep. Not yet.

"I'll put you on the bed next to Aiyana's, Daniel," Sam told him.

So tired. 

Then the world disappeared for some time... 

When he emerged from the darkness, the first thing he sensed were hands on his body, stroking up and down his arms and chest. Daniel opened his eyes, which didn't seem as difficult as before. 

Still floating.

Still hot.

Still pain.

But there were noises now that hadn't been there before.

Someone was moaning low.

Then Sam again. "What is she doing?"

Janet: "I think she's..."

The rest was lost. There was rushing in his ears, like a waterfall. There was a jolt of something going through his body and for a moment it felt like he was leaving the bed and hovering above it. There was a glow in front of his eyes. A golden shimmer, that seemed to stretch and pulse and surround him. 

Daniel opened his eyes wide and tried to see through it. But he couldn't. Everything but the glow was gone. 

What was happening? Had he been wrong about Aiyana?

Was he going to... 

Was Oma back? Was he going to ascend? Why wasn't she giving him a choice? He wasn't ready. There was so much that needed to be done. 

Or was this his real destiny? Did he have to go with Oma to accomplish his goal? Had he made a mistake when he chose against ascension the first time? Was this what Jackson really wanted him to do?

The golden glow seemed to envelop him, growing more and more intense.

If this was what had to be done, he'd do it. He could hear himself, his future self, in his mind

_You'll always do what you think is best for the mission. Or what your inner voice tells you._

But there was also this other voice in him. The young scared one. He couldn't go. Not like this. 

Jack wasn't back... 

If he had to go, he would. But he needed to say goodbye to Jack.

He couldn't listen to his inner voice. Because there were always two of them now and they were still fighting for dominance....

The glow started to float and then it was gone.

Daniel took a deep gulp of air.

**VII**

Jack stumbled through the entrance of White Rock station, barely able to keep his hold on Woods. They had found the two scientists not far from the dig-site. They were both unconscious. Teal'c carried Osbourne over his shoulders. 

When they entered the inner complex of the station, Fraiser came running towards them. He had called her over the radio to prepare her for their return. She looked pretty much the way Jack was feeling. 

Like crap. 

She held the doors open for them as they carried the unconscious bodies into the infirmary. Once they had put the men down on two gurneys, O'Neill turned to the doc. "Daniel?"

"He's with Aiyana and Sam," Fraiser answered, already ripping Woods' jacket open.

"What's going on?" O'Neill gasped, trying not to lose his balance. His legs were about to give in. He felt cold sweat run down his temples and into the collar of his jacket. 

"I'm not sure. I was about to examine him when you called," she said. There were droplets of perspiration on her pale face. "He seems to be stable. Go. I’ll take it from here."

"I will stay here to assist you, DoctorFraiser," Teal'c offered quietly and started to free Osbourne from his clothes.

Fraiser nodded exhausted. 

Jack put a hand on her arm and she offered him a tight smile. "I'll handle it. Daniel needs you."

When he entered Aiyana's room, he stopped short for a moment at the sight.

Carter was lying unconscious on the floor, next to Aiyana. The young woman seemed to be awake, but was breathing harshly, her eyes wide open. He squatted down next to them and felt for Carter's pulse. It was there, strong and stable. Thank God. Then he turned to Aiyana and reached out for her.

She suddenly grabbed his hand and squeezed it for a moment before she let go again. "Danielis... called for Jack. Patronus."

He followed her eyes and spotted the little guy curled up like a ball in the lower bunk. Jack picked Carter up and placed her on another bed, reaching for her pulse once more. When he was sure it was really steady, he left her and helped Aiyana to a bed, too.

Then he hurried over to Daniel.

He let himself slide into the bunk and carefully placed his hand on the small back. "Daniel?"

Jack could feel the heat radiating from his own body. He knew he wasn't going to make it for much longer. His head felt like twice the size it used to be. His neck was stiff, and bringing Woods and Osbourne back had taken most of what had been left of his strength. 

"Daniel," he croaked again, finding it difficult to formulate words suddenly. Everything was spinning. 

Then the kid uncurled and turned towards him, his eyes huge and dark. For a moment, Jack thought he didn't recognize him. But then he reached out his arms and Jack pulled him into a tight hug. He was damp everywhere. His hair, his clothes... 

"Ja... Jack?"

"Yeah. I'm back."

"You're hot," Daniel said, hoarsely.

"I'm okay. I'm..." 

"No. No, you are not. But you will be. Aiyana can heal you. She's going to help you, Jack. Just lay down," came Daniel's voice from far away. 

Everything seemed far away. Jack tried to keep his eyes open. He needed to tell Daniel that he had come back for him. So they wouldn't be alone... 

Something funny happened. The world started to swim around him, and spin... 

This was like when he had eaten that damn wedding cake and ended up as an old ugly guy stuck on.... on... Was that Daniel hovering over him, telling him that he was going to be okay?

Yeah, well, if he said so....

*******

"Are you all right?"

Aiyana raised her head when Daniel spoke to her. She smiled. "Okay."

"You... don't look so good," he said worried. 

"Okay. Soon," she whispered. "Aqua?"

He handed her the glass of water and she took it from him. Her hands were shaking just a little, but she managed to drink without spilling the water.

When he took back the glass, she started to sit up. "Compater... Jack?"

"Dormata. He is..."

"Sleep. Good," Aiyana smiled.

Daniel nodded. He looked over at Jack, who was in a deep sleep. Aiyana had healed him and then passed out. Daniel had managed to wake Sam, who had been on one of the beds. She was a little dizzy, but her fever was gone. Daniel could only  guess that Aiyana had healed her right after she had done it to him. 

Ten minutes ago Aiyana had woken up. But she seemed to be weak.

"You healed us," Daniel told her now. "Tu sano."

"Yes," Aiyana quietly answered. "Sano. Good."

"How?"

She shook her head at this, her face becoming sad.

"Can you do it again? Tu sano... iterum?"

Aiyana ducked her head and fiddled with her blanket. Daniel licked his still dry lips. He felt drowsy and frustrated. Janet, Osbourne and Woods were in a deep fever. Michaels was in a coma. 

"Talk to me," he whispered. "I need to know... Ego indaeo quaero."

She took a deep breath. Then she pushed her blanket aside and left the bed. She had to steady herself at the wall when she had reached the door. Daniel hurried after her and took her hand. It was all he could do. 

Together they walked to the infirmary.

Sam, who had returned to the infirmary some time ago, was helplessly wiping sweat from Janet's pale face when they entered. There were still dark rings under her eyes, but otherwise she seemed okay.

"Daniel - how is the colonel?" she greeted them, the ghost of an exhausted smile hushing over her face.

"He is sleeping."

"Compater Jack very strong," Aiyana said. "Patronus Carus Danielis. Very strong. Familaris. Amo. Strong."

Sam stepped aside when the Ancient woman bent over Janet and placed her hands on the Doctor's body. She closed her eyes.

"What did she say?" Sam asked in a low voice.

"She... called Jack my... I'm not sure. Godfather. And protector. I think. And that we have a strong bond," Daniel whispered.

They watched in silence as Aiyana's hands wandered over Janet's body until she started  to spasm.  She took several  hitching breaths. Daniel leaned his head against Sam's side and she put her arm around his shoulder. 

Aiyana whimpered in pain, but didn't stop. 

Janet took another gulping breath.

There was no glowing to be seen.

Daniel wondered if it was only him who had seen it. He was wondering if he should ask Sam about it. When he felt a heavy hand on his back, he looked up to see Teal'c stand beside him. 

"Aiyana is getting very weak. Healing others is exhausting her and taking away her strength," the Jaffa said.

"Yes. However she is able to do what she does, it weakens her. More each time. She's still carrying that virus herself. I'm afraid there's going to be a point where she puts herself at risk," Sam said thoughtfu l ly. "I'm no doctor. But I looked at one of the blood samples Janet took from her shortly before the colonel and you came back, Teal'c. After she healed Daniel. And it looks like her white cell count is down significantly. White blood cells are a major part of our immune system and… she's still basically human."

"Aiyana will die if she continues the healing," Teal'c said. 

"I have no idea. Maybe she just needs some time to get her strength back. Janet wanted to run some tests on you, Daniel, looking for antibody markers. She was hoping that whatever Aiyana did to heal us, means we're now immune to re-infection. But she didn't get to it."

"So we can only hope that letting her continue is the right choice," the Jaffa said.

"It is," Daniel assured him, but he was frightened for her, too.

"I am most confident in your judgment about the situation, DanielJacksonO'Neill."

*******

Jack came back from a deep dreamless sleep when Daniel's pointed elbows poked painfully into his ribs. Groaning he shoved the little guy away, amazed about how heavy this flyweight seemed to be when he was plastered against him like this.

"You could have just asked me to move, you know," Daniel's light voice startled him. 

Jack cracked open an eye and tried to make out the kid's face in the darkness. "Why aren't you sleeping?" he mumbled. He must be hungover or something, according to the very bad taste in his mouth and the lack of memory about what had happened, that made him feel so lousy. 

"I was. But I've been awake for some time now. Besides, I was thinking things over."

"Things?" Jack asked stupidly, rubbing his eyes. 

"Meaning of life stuff. Me. The Universe. Ancients... You... us...Stuff."

"You depressed?" 

Because if he wasn't, Jack would happily go back to sleep.

"No."

"Sweet."

Daniel threw his arms around him and wriggled his head under his chin. After he had made himself comfortable again, he said, "They're all  a sleep. Michaels, Janet, Woods and Osbourne. Sam and Teal'c are taking turns watching over Aiyana."

O'Neill groaned when suddenly the memories hit him. Not hungover then. And while he still felt kinda lousy, he realized he didn't feel sick or feverish anymore. "How is she?"

Daniel sounded sad when he replied, "She's very weak. Janet hopes she can help her when we're back at the SGC. Healing all of us was wearing her out. It seems she now has it herself."

"She really saved all of us? How'd she do that?"

“She used her hands. The Ancients possessed healing powers, not only on themselves. They were also able to heal others. The plague was too much for them though. It killed millions of them. Those who survived it left," Daniel explained.

"To the Lost City?"

"Yes. I don't get that really. I thought they went there. But I also think they built it. I don't know why it's lost. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe it is called the city of the Lost, not the Lost City. Like... Like the people of Altera who were lost... or lost their home galaxy. I need to find out more about that. So far all I have is this... knowledge and no evidence for it. But I know the Lost City is somehow important."

Jack let his long fingers roam through Daniel's stringy hair. He wasn't really following Daniel's explanations wholeheartedly. But the fact that he was talking like a waterfall again made him smile. Aside from that he realized that they were both smelly. 

"We need a shower, kiddo," he said.

"I know."

But they didn't move. Daniel's arms were still around him like an octopus and Jack rubbed his back. "We’ll find it," he said. "That Lost City of yours."

"It has started," Daniel whispered, pressing himself even more against Jack. "Aiyana triggered the first memories about what Oma gave me. There is more than the things I learned from Aiyana."

"What?"

"A long time after the plague had been here, those from the lost City came back to Avalon. It's what they called the Milky Way. Or so I think. Nothing was here. Everything had died in the plague. So they somehow seeded new life. Jack, the Ancients are our ancestors. They were... They somehow created us all. Everybody, every humanoid... all life in this galaxy has come from them. I guess that's how evolution started on Earth for the second time. Through something the Ancients did."

"You're not telling me they were gods, right?"

"No. No, they were not. But they had the ability to create life. With technology, I think. I don't know how it was possible."

"You sure about this, Daniel? Because this is..."

"Meaning of life stuff."

"Yeah."

They fell silent for a moment. Jack's need for a shower was getting stronger. But still they couldn't let go of one another. They had been so close to losing each other. Again. It was never getting old. Or routine. Yet, he knew that in a few days life would be the same as usual. They would be home or at work. There would be pizza and hockey on Friday, going shopping and playing chess. They would meet Sam and Teal'c on the weekends and they would laugh and argue and do all the normal things they always did. 

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

"I have no idea what's coming next. I feel... so out of control. It is exciting. Learning new things, knowing there will be more... But it scares me, too. I will never know when it's going to happen again. What... what else I have to do, to get all the information I need. This... was no fun. It was great getting to know Aiyana and going on a mission with SG-1. But the virus and everything... "

"I know, Danny. I was scared, too," Jack admitted softly without hesitation.

"Jackson said I had to talk to her. He said it was important. He was right. But... but..."

O'Neill gritted his teeth. He now remembered Daniel had told him Jackson had suggested he should take a look at... That bastard had known. All along. He felt his grip around Daniel tighten. 

The kid raised his head and looked at him with knitted eyebrows. "Jack?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and forced himself to relax again. "It's nothing. And it's okay to be freaked out by all of this."

"I was scared when you were gone," Daniel mumbled. "That you wouldn't come back in time."

"But I did. I always will," Jack told him, hoping he could live up to this promise.

After a moment he nudged him a little. "Come on, let's take a shower and get some clean clothes. I'm hungry."

"They already called the plane. It'll be here soon. I'm glad we’re going home. I don't like the cold," Daniel said with a smile.

"Ya think we’ll make it home by Saturday?"

"Sure. We'll get a straight flight home. Because of Aiyana. They're sending a disease control team. Why?"

"There's a Simpsons marathon on Saturday. And I forgot to program the VCR," Jack said when Daniel loosened his octopus grip on him and got off the bed.

**VIII**

Six hours after they had returned home, they were still on base. They all had showered and changed. Jack had cajoled Daniel into eating something, but didn't even try to get him to bed. They were debriefed and since then Daniel had been sitting in the infirmary, holding Aiyana's hand. She smiled at him, her green eyes clouded with something that could be weakness or sadness. Daniel wasn't sure. She had been asleep for a long time and now that she was awake she refused to eat or drink. She was getting fluids through the IV. She was very white, even her lips seemed to have lost their color. The journey back from Antarctica had been exhausting for her. 

Daniel was wearing a bio hazard suit that was much too big for his size. But Janet had insisted on it since it was still not clear if they were safe from re-infection. There had been no antibody markers in their blood.

Aiyana wore a nose cannula providing her with oxygen. She was also attached to an EKG monitor. Janet injected something into the IV line. She, too, wore a protective suit.

"Aiyana." Daniel said, looking down at their hands. He wanted to pull off the gloves but knew he couldn't. The risk was too high. 

She blinked. "Danielis. All is well."

"Yes. You saved us. Now we want to save you."

She shook her head. "Tempus letalis."

"You're not going to die. We want you to live. I want you to live," Daniel said. 

General Hammond's voice came over the speakers from the Observation room. Daniel knew he was up there together with Sam and Jack. "Why hasn't she been able to stop the virus in herself?"

Janet answered via her headset, "From what I've been able to learn so far, sir, the virus ultimately acts like cerebrospinal meningitis by attacking the brain. Despite the physical similarities, Aiyana's brain chemistry seems to be quite different from ours. I suppose it's possible she's able to trigger an immune response in us that she can't muster in herself once the disease reaches an end stage."

"What are the odds she'll survive?"

When there was no answer from Janet, Daniel turned and watched her shake her head in the generals direction. He bit his lip.

"This can't be right. We just brought her back. She brought herself back. How can we lose her again now? We could learn so much from her. She could teach me so much. And ... she healed us. How can we let her die," Daniel said, tears pooling in his eyes.

"Danielis," Aiyana's soft voice made him look back at her. "Sense will come. All has sense."

"Your English is really getting good," he mumbled. He wasn't able to wipe away the tears that were running down his face due to the bio hazard suit. 

"No tears. I will be. She told me."

Daniel blinked. "She?"

"She, who helps." Aiyana smiled again. "Conscendora. Navo locas." 

Her eyes closed and her head slipped to the side, but the smile never left her lips. The beeping of the EKG monitor turned continuous. Daniel saw her heartbeat go into flatline. He jumped aside when Janet and the medical staff started to work on Aiyana to bring her back. 

"Bag her," Janet ordered. "Give me one milligram epi."

She set up the defibrillator. "Charging to 200." She grabbed the paddle and prepared to shock her, when Daniel suddenly realized what Aiyana had been talking about. 

He stared at the body for a moment. Then he stepped forward and tugged at Janet's arm. "Stop! She doesn't want you to do that."

"Daniel, I can't just let her..."

"She is going to die anyway. You said it yourself."

"Yes. But…" Janet stopped, gaping at the bed in front of them. She took a step back and shook her head when one of the nurses looked questioningly at her. Daniel watched amazed as a white light engulfed Aiyana’s still body. 

"Doctor, what is going on down there," Hammond's voice was to be heard.

"I'm not sure, sir," Janet replied helplessly.

"She's ascending," Daniel whispered. 

"Can you stop it?" Hammond asked urgently

"I don't think that's necessary. Or even possible, sir," Jack said quietly.

"I’ve seen this before. On Kheb. The monk who had died. And then with Daniel. When... when he came into the gate room to stop Reese. We watched it through the window from the control room," Sam said. 

"Yeah. It's all right. I guess Oma was in the neighborhood," Jack muttered.

The light hover ed over the now empty bed. Aiyana’s body was gone. Then it started mov ing upwards and a moment later it vanished through the ceiling.

"Good-bye," Daniel said quietly. "Aveo…amacuse."

*******

Jack walked through the quiet corridors of the SGC. 

Daniel was in his office, making notes and writing a report. He'd cried a little after Aiyana was gone and they had spent some time on his couch, just cuddling and not talking. Jack wished the kid would get some sleep, but he didn't push it. Yet. Daniel had insisted on writing the report. His overpowered brain was beyond being able to sleep. He was wired to the max. Carter had come by and brought him cookies. Even though Jack was sure the sugar on top of all the stress would only make things worse, he hadn't said anything. 

Sometimes comfort food was just the thing. 

Daniel loved cookies. So cookies he got. He would eventually collapse in the truck on their way home anyway and then hopefully sleep through the night peacefully. But Jack expected this adventure to add some nasty dreams to the nightmare galore.

When he reached the VIP quarter, where the adult version of Daniel still lived, he didn't bother knocking. He jerked the door open and walked right in, ignoring the cheerful barks and bounces of Flyboy. Jack brusquely shoved him away and marched over to the desk Jackson was sitting at, hunched over a book. Which was such a familiar sight it made Jack stop just for a second, before he yelled.

"You knew it! You bastard! I'm SO gonna kick your ass!"

Now the man looked up, raising his eyebrows in question. "Hey Jack. I heard you're back."

"We could all have DIED! You sent Daniel in there KNOWING it!"

"But you didn't. Die. None of you did," Jackson stated, his red trimmed eyes blinking. "He was able to talk to her, right? Did he discover some of Oma's knowledge?" 

"Yes! But that's not the point! I took Daniel with me because I thought it was safe! And you... for cryin' out loud, I don't believe you actually ASKED him to do this. To talk to her. To go with us. You should've warned him! Hell, you should have warned me!"

"If I had warned you, you would've never have taken him with you."

"Damn straight I wouldn't!"

"Well, I knew that. That's why I didn't warn you. He had to go."

"WHY?!"

"Because he has to learn. He has to retain the knowledge slowly. It will be triggered by things like this. It is important for him - for all of you - to complete the full journey."

"He could have remembered by himself someday. You didn't have to let him go through this unprepared!"

Jackson leaned back in his desk chair and looked at him. O'Neill clenched his jaw. He wanted to ignore what he saw in the blue eyes that were so familiar. Pain. Jack didn't want to deal with whatever anguish or sorrow this guy had gone through. He wanted to be mad. 

"It's h ow it works. I don't like it either. But I can't do anything about it," Jackson said.

"You can talk to us. Instead of hiding and avoiding us, you could've thrown us a bone!"

"What do you want me to do, Jack? Come over to you guys, play the oracle? Have lunch with you and talk to Sam about the string theory? Get more involved? I don't think so. I think you know that staying out of each other's way is the best thing we can do."

"I wasn't talking about lunch or small talk," Jack snapped.

"No. I didn't think you were."

"For Pete's sake! He is a kid, Jackson! Part of him has a real hard time dealing with all this shit! So if there's more like this coming our way you better spill!"

"I'm sorry. I can't. Daniel understands that. He is not a kid. I thought after a year of..."

"Cut the crap, Future-boy! It's not as simple as that. Don't you try telling me otherwise. Because I know what he is and what he isn't. He might not be a kid, but he isn't the same guy he used to be," Jack hollered. 

"Fine. So he might have some nightmares. He will get over it. Believe me, I'm dealing with those nightmares all the time. He at least has someone who helps him through them," Jackson said, oozing bitterness. 

Jack jammed his hands into the pockets of his BDU pants. He jerked his eyes away from Jackson's face and started pacing the room. He picked up a... doohickey... looked like a rock... fiddled with it for a moment and put it down. 

"I...um, sorry," Jackson sighed.

“Yeah, well, you'd better,” Jack muttered.

"I didn't mean it the way it came out. I'm glad he's not alone. I know this is hard for you, too."

"Yeah, see... I'm just worried. He already has problems dealing with... you. What happened in Antarctica..."

"I know." Jackson blinked some more and rubbed his eyes which started to seem a bit watery now.

O'Neill felt a muscle twitch in his jaw when he tried to offer the guy something that looked like a smile. Then he just let it be and gave him a blank stare. "I guess I’ll take the dog..."

"Uh, yeah. He missed Daniel, I think."

"Yeah."

Jackson tried the smiling-face, too, for a moment. At least he managed a grimace. Then he blinked again. 

"Allergies?" Jack asked.

"What?"

"You’ re do ing funny things with your... eyes."

"Oh. No, no. Just the contacts. I'm... um... still getting used to them. I got pink eye."

"Ah."

The archaeologist cleared his throat and said, "There's something we need to talk about."

" Oh, is there now? "

Jack had to look somewhere else. The rapid blinking was a bit unnerving. Jackson got up and stepped closer to him. It cost O'Neill a lot of willpower not to take a step back. He didn't want to have that guy in his personal space. But he was held in place by concerned blue eyes. 

"Yeah. Actually... I’ll just grab the opportunity while you are here now. I think something's going on."

"Alright. Could you be a little more specific here," Jack hissed.

"They're delaying my departure to the Alpha Site."

"Jackson..."

"Hear me out, okay? I've been working on the plans for this research lab and archaeological department. I already chose a staff to come with me. It was all set. Then two days ago they told me there were budget cutbacks and they weren't currently able to let me go. So I was ordered to stay here until further notice."

"What kind of crap is that? Budget cutbacks!"

"See? That's what I thought. So - something's going on."

"What's Hammond saying to all this?" Jack asked. "What do you want me to do about it? It's not my call. Can't help you here."

"I’m just saying I think they want me to stay at the mountain permanently. Hammond assumes they even want me back on SG-1. Gaunt indicated something like that at the briefing already. They know I'll refuse if they order me immediately. So I guess they're trying to sit it out."

"Over my dead body," Jack blurted out, looking away from the flash of hurt he saw in Jackson's eyes. He backed off and started pacing again.

"They can make me." 

Jack was about to remind Jackson that he wasn't military. They couldn't order him to work at the mountain. He could always resign as an option. Then again... he wasn't a free citizen either anymore. He was under observation and they could take away his civilian rights with a snap of their fingers. Declaring Jackson dead again and locking him away was no big deal for the powers that be.

If they really wanted him back on SG-1 they could make him. 

"They can't do that to Daniel," he said. But he knew the answer to that one before he heard it. He was in this circus long enough to know how the games were played.

Maybe too long. 

Jackson gave a bitter snort and shook his head sadly. "Do you really think they care how Daniel feels about it? Or you? Any of us?."

"They need him. They can't just ditch him. He has this stuff in his brain that will help us to kick Anubis’s ass," O'Neill objected.

"I don't think they really know how important Daniel is to them. I think it's the ignorance and typical arrogance of politicians and military people in the upper ranks. They think they can handle this with or without Daniel. We know how it works."

"Right."

"I don't want to take Daniel's place on the team. Or Baxter's," Jackson said finally.

"So join another team if they want you to go saving the world. But you know Carter has all these issues..."

"Gaunt was right. About the string theory."

"Ah. And you didn't tell us that, why exactly?"

"Because Simmons was amongst the people from the government who questioned me. And Thor said Earth isn't ready yet for time travel like this."

"Thor brought you here?"

"Yes. Anyway... Giving away vital information that could help them to find out how to do it, could in fact alter the time line. I don't know how it really works. But as long as I don't give away things about the future events, I won't alter the time line."

Jack went down on one knee and finally gave in to Flyboy's repeated tries to get his attention. He patted and rubbed the thick black fur and craned his neck to avoid getting his ears slobbered on some more.

"So you COULD have lunch with Carter and tell her not to worry, right?"

"Yeah. I just... would rather not."

"I don't think she would mind. Neither would T."

"I know. I just don't feel comfortable running into you guys.... I... let's just say I rather stay out of it."

Jack got up and tousled the hair on Flyboy's head some more. He didn't tell Jackson that it was okay for him to see him or have lunch with him. Because it would be a lie. They both knew it. And he was sure Daniel felt the same. Heck, they really needed to talk about this. Some time.

"I'll better go. Daniel is so overtired he can't even sleep anymore. I bet he's crawling up the walls and driving Carter nuts. Hasn't slept since we left the plane. He was with Aiyana the whole time. I don't want to miss the Simpson's marathon either," he told Jackson.

The other guy frowned. "Is Daniel actually watching that with you now?"

"Yeah sure. He loves it. But he likes the comics better. You know him and... books," Jack joked without even thinking about it. When Jackson just stared at him, he said, "You really don't remember a thing, do ya?"

"No."

"But you read his journals."

"Yes. There were a few things. But not... much that wasn't work related."

"What? You and I didn't talk about...?"

"Daniel asked me the same," Jackson sighed. His arms came around himself and he looked like he was cold. "And no. We didn't. Not that much." 

Jack cocked his head and waited for an explanation to that. When he didn't get one, he called for the dog and made his way to the door. 

*******

Daniel yawned and shut his computer down. 

"I'll work through it some more tomorrow," he said.

"The general 'ordered' downtime for a week for all of us. Take your time," Sam assured him. She was standing next to him, looking over his shoulder.

"I just wanted to write it while my memories are fresh. I made notes in my journal, but..."

"I know what you mean. Do you want another cookie?" She pointed at the plate on the table.

Daniel patted his belly and shook his head. "Thanks. They're yummy, though."

"They are the first batch of Christmas cookies the commissary had this year."

"Mmmh. They were chocolate, too."

"Speaking of which," came Jack's bright voice from the doorway. "What are we going to do on Christmas this year?"

Flyboy came running over and Daniel hopped from his chair to greet his four footed friend. They slumped down on his couch together, Flyboy's tongue all over Daniel's face.

“Dad and I will visit Mark and the kids on Christmas," Sam said.

"Nice. What about Christmas Eve? Are you up for the traditional team gathering?"

"Well, dad arrives Christmas Eve."

Jack sat down  beside Daniel, who was halfway buried under the dog.

"Jacob can come, too," Daniel squealed, trying to shove the big guy away. 

"There ya go. Maybe the Doc and Cassie want to come over, too," Jack said and rescued Daniel by pulling Flyboy away by his collar.

Daniel sat upright and pushed his glasses back in place. "I promise not to get gloomy or moody this year," he said, blushing a little. 

Last Christmas hadn't been fun for anybody. Daniel had been in a very bad mood and refused to unwrap his gifts. It had been horrible. They had tried to act as if nothing was different. It had been a disaster. Daniel had thrown a fit over almost everything and ended up spending most of Christmas Eve sulking in his room. Well, it had all been new and he'd had a very hard time. It had even been a struggle to look in a mirror without starting to wail, back then. 

"Let's not dwell," Jack said. "Maybe Teal'c can dress up as Santa this year."

"Don't push it, Jack." Daniel rolled his eyes. "And just so you know. I don't want a tree or any of that fancy stuff either."

"Well that makes two of us. So, Carter? You coming with dad?" 

Sam smiled. She sat on the floor in front of the couch and put her arms around Flyboy who happily started to nuzzle at her ears. "Sure. I think dad will like the idea. Eeewww... stop that, Flyboy. That's gross!"

"You should be honored," Daniel said. "He only does this with people he loves. He does it to Jack all the time."

"Oh yes. That means he has accepted you as part of the family," Jack grinned.

"Oh. I guess I'll get used to it then," she said.

"Wait until he starts humping your..." Daniel started and giggled when Jack's hand covered his mouth.

"He needs sleep," he apologized to Sam.

"Oh, we had dogs when I was a kid. I know exactly what he means, sir, " she snorted and then pulled her leg out from under Flyboy's body.

They sat there for a moment and Daniel placed his head into Jack's lap. He felt pretty worn out all of a sudden.

"Hey, I talked to Jackson," Jack said suddenly. "McKay was right about the string theory."

"He was?" Daniel and Sam asked  as one . 

"Yes. He just feels uncomfortable about... us. There are certain things he doesn't want to tell - or do."

"Something is still odd about it," Sam said. "But if he's really sure..."

"Thor brought him here. I think we can trust that he wouldn't mess with our time line."

She thought about that for a moment and then nodded. "Okay."

Daniel felt Jack's hand play with his hair and massag e his skull absently. It felt good. He heard him ask, "Carter... this string theory thing... that's... how does that work?"

"Oh, that's easy, sir. Err, at least for me. Imagine you have a towel."

"What color? Uh... never mind."

"Blue. Okay. Let's take a closer look at it. There's a fabric on the back, woven threads going up and down. Those we call warp. And then we have woven threads across the short side, which we call weft. Now, imagine this towel is the Universe. And the warps and wefts are the fabric of the Universe. That's what string theory is. It's called the 'brane. The 'brane is made up of little strings of its own. Now instead of thinking about Newtonian particles like electrons or protons, think of them as little bits of string. Everything from a black hole to a speck of dust is expressed as these strings, which you can picture as individual loops on the surface of your towel...."

"Jack, stop tapping your fingers on my head. I'm not a drum," Daniel muttered. 

"Sorry. Carter... "

"I'm getting to it, sir. Sooo... each of those little strings has certain characteristics in common, but they can be different lengths or vibrate at different rates. Those differences 'mean' the differences between a proton and a neutron."

"O-kay," Jack said, tapping away on Daniel's head. "I know the difference between protons and neutrons."

"Oh. Err, that's great. Okay, here comes the fun part, sir. There's not only one towel out there. There are lots of them. Think of the towels as different Universes now. Some are like ours, blue. Some are green, others red. Some are blue but have a different pattern. Or they are so different that they look like leather or maybe silk fabric. And they all exist next to each other, without knowing that they exist. Each of them thinks it is the only real one. The only one out there." 

"But Jackson didn't come from another Universe, right? He came from the future. From our future," Daniel yawned, while he shoved Jack's annoying hand away from his head.

"Yes. That's what he claims anyway. That's where I stumbled. IF he is telling the truth, it would mean there are not only different universes next to each other, but also different time lines in ONE Universe."

"Towels in a towel," Jack commented dryly. 

"The only way of letting this happen the way it apparently has is using some technology, I have never heard off. Then again the whole string theory is based on different universes not on different time lines in one universe. So I can only speculate that Thor had some device he used in order to get Jackson here. The point is, that Jackson's entire body down to the last string is oriented toward his home dimension, or time line. But because those two time lines are independent from one another, he can go over without mingling them. They both exist - separately from each other. Jackson goes from A to B and his "strings" re-orientate."

"Okay. I don't get it. If there are god knows how many time lines, how did he know where to go," Jack huffed.

"Jack! My head!" Daniel tried to sit up, but his friend patted his shoulder apologetically and moved his hand away from his head.

Sam threw up her hands "I'm sorry. Without knowing what kind of technology they used, I can't tell. But I have a good idea why he doesn't want us to know."

"Yeah. He said Thor believes we aren't ready for something like that," Jack muttered.

"He is right, sir."

Daniel gazed up at the ceiling of his office. He wondered what else Jack and Jackson had talked about. Did he really want to know? Jack and he really needed to talk about this. Some time. Not today though. One day they would be ready. Until then they could just continue with their lives. They were okay with each other. They had gone through this mission together and come back alive. That was the most important thing right now. 


End file.
